I thought this move was a study of beauty and petty cruelty. How friendships can come from unexpected places.
Having just read the Summer Before The War I was primed to understand how small town leadership could judge and frustrate an independent outsider, and woman at that.
I also could see how the outsider was drawn to the place by its beauty and that beauty brought peace and solace. After all the protagonist could have opened her shop in a larger town where the income would be better and the opposition less. It was love for this place that made her stay and fight.
I was also stunned at the end by the all out efforts of the local doyenne to not just stop the bookshop, but crush the protagonist socially and financially. It seemed unnecessarily vindictive when a local boycott could have ended the shop as effectively.
I do understand how the protagonist didn't fight back harder, she stood her ground as long as she could until overwhelmed by the sheer volume of obstruction.
I don't quite buy selling Lolita though. Could such a small community really support 250 copies of such a controversial novel? Wouldn't several local organizations have been at her door demanding it be taken off the shelves? Ray Bradbury would have been edgy enough.
And the end, when the young girl exacts her revenge on her community.
The cinematography was gorgeous.
Review of The Bookshop
