Book Review: The Story People

[osprey_archer]

I just finished Heather Kaufman’s The Story People, which I ended up really enjoying, despite the fact that it does have some Ridiculous Misunderstandings and for all that the copy I got from NetGalley was riddled with typos and dropped words. (Hopefully they’ll fix that before the book actually goes to press.)

I was actually going to complain a bit more about the misunderstandings, but the book really grew on me as I read along. Sure, some of the plotting is a bit ludicrous, but the atmosphere is just so cozy - this quaint little Indiana town with the kind of quirkily interesting small businesses that almost no small Indiana town has anymore. (I figure New Holden, like Nashville, is a tourist attraction, and that’s what supports all these delightful stores).

The most important of these quirky little businesses is the local bookstore, which our hero, Ben Palermo, inherited from his uncle. He used to visit it as a child, and as a child he liked to sneak away to hidden room tucked away behind a closet on the third floor, where he met a girl, and they invented the tale of the Story People, who live in the hidden room and slip out to nibble on stories.

There's a children's book tucked away inside the adult book, told in short snippets at the end of each chapter, about the boy and the girl and their epistolary friendship consisting of notes left for each other in the hidden room, and occasionally serendipitous meetings. I do feel a bit wistful about that book, and its possibilities as a standalone.

But I did end up enjoying the adult part of the book too. It also has a secondary romance between two old people, and old people romance is something I always enjoy for some reason. Maybe just because you don’t see it very often?

It’s Christian fiction - I didn’t realize this until after I’d requested the book; I pretty much saw the title and slammed the “request” button. Obviously everyone is going to have different tolerance levels for this sort of thing, but I thought it wasn’t overbearing at all, and actually an interesting view into a different way of life.

Comments

[evelyn-b.livejournal.com]

This sounds cute and fun! How much tolerance I'd have for the "Christian fiction" aspect depends entirely on how it's handled, I guess! I just finished Wise Blood and tolerated it perfectly well, though Flannery O'Connor and I certainly don't see eye to eye in any theological sense.

"Old people romance" also sounds appealing to me.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I haven't read a lot of Christian fiction, although I suspect that it could easily become overbearing if the characters are slinging around Bible quotes all the time. Or if the story were focused around something like abortion or gay marriage - that could get real old real fast.

Hooray for old people romance! I'm not sure why I find it so appealing, but I do.

[ladyherenya]

This sounds like something I might like.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

You might! I don't know if it's going to be published in Australia.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Wow--now here Netgalley is doing good duty. You've received the book early, you've reviewed it, and thanks to your review, I definitely want to read it--especially for that children's book embedded in it.

I don't mind Christian fiction, so I'm good there, too.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I hope you enjoy it if you do read it! I do feel ever so slightly sad that we didn't get the children's book as a standalone, but it is a nice treat as a book-within-a-book.