Reviewed by Emma Crowley
When Hope loses her husband, she fears her happiest days are behind her. With her only connection to London broken, she moves home to York to be near her family and to begin to build a new life.
Taking a job at the antique shop she has always admired, she finds herself crossing paths with two very different men. Will, who has recently become the guardian to his niece after the tragic death of her parents. And Ciaran, who she enlists to help solve the mystery of an Egyptian antique. Two men who represent two different happy endings.
But can she trust herself to choose the right man? And will that bring her everything she really needs?
Many thanks to Harriet Collins from Simon and Schuster UK for my copy of The Little Shop of Hidden Treasure to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The Little Shop of Hidden Treasures by Holly Hepburn popped through my letter box one Friday and I had it finished by the Sunday and I can safely say, given my up and down reading mojo over recent months, that this is a very rare occurrence. I can leave books on my TBR pile for months and months and then simply forget about them. But I knew as soon as I saw this book with such a beautiful, warm and inviting cover that I needed to read it instantly and boy was I glad as this was just the most perfect read that I literally inhaled.
I found myself over 200 pages in before I knew it and really I read it way too fast and was gutted when it ended. I should have held back and savoured it a bit more but I couldn’t as I was so deeply invested in this story and it was like the author had woven some magic to keep the book firmly in your hands and rapidly turning the pages. It’s an utterly fabulous book that is captivating, sparkling and certainly a must read. A gorgeous story awaits you at the heart of this book with the trauma of dealing with grief, romance and the added bonus of a mystery/delving back into the past at it’s centre not to mention the wonderfully crafted characters. This book had it all and much more.
Originally published in four parts this is now this story combined into one full length book and to be honest I don’t think I would have had the patience to read one part at a time because I was so eager to discover what happened next. I admire those who had the restraint to read this fantastic story bit by bit. Hope Henderson is back home in York after nearly a decade away. It’s 18 months since she has lost her husband Rob and her family are full of love and concern for her. Hope is still very much in the grieving process and has an aching loss that permeates so many aspects of her life. Selling her house in London and returning to the familiar and comforting streets of York she hopes to find a little bit of herself again in order to take tentative steps forward with her unexpected and unwanted new life. But deep down she really doesn’t want to move on and to leave Rob behind. She still can’t comprehend life without him.
I really felt the author put such great care and attention into portraying how Holly was feeling. We can all relate to what she was going through. It wasn’t glossed over nor was there ever a point where you felt ah come on now Hope give yourself a shake and just get on with things. You sensed she needed time and perhaps the magic of a little shop and some new acquaintances to help start her on the path to recovery and acceptance. This quote describing grief was so beautiful and raw. ’Grief affects us all differently - sometimes we think we are coming through it - only to find another layer underneath. Maybe one day, we finish opening all the layers and find a new version of ourselves waiting-smaller than we were, sadder, but ready to face life again’. I thought it was simply astounding and oh so true. It made me stop in my tracks and think how I myself have dealt with grief.
Hope wants to get away from who she was before and try something new.Walking the streets of York, The Ever After Emporium catches her eye as it has done since she was a young child. The shop owned by James Young is an absolute treasure trove of delights. The descriptions of its layout and the contents within were just pure magical and so visual that you felt that you could reach through the pages and touch the many varied objects with so much history for yourself. Hope applies for the position of part-time assistant and is successful and so sets in motion a new chapter of her life that will bring plenty of surprises and challenges but as we journey with her we see her undergo a transformation and in doing so she helps others too come to a point they have needed to reach.
Hope really has a way with her of bringing people out of their shell, of seeing underneath the exterior to deep down and learning what makes people tick. She can read people well it’s just a pity she can’t see that she is a good person who deserves to not always cling to the past and allow grief to leave her marked forever. Yes, she should never forget Rob but she does deserve to be happy. She needs to actually start living for her self instead of just making it through each day. I think we all do a lot of that whether we have been affected by grief or not especially given the current climate. You feel it an achievement just to make it through another day, mark it off on the calendar and move onto the next but are we really living and enjoying ourselves?
The Emporium becomes a steadying presence for Hope. She starts to feel as if this is where she was meant to be. The place and time are right, she feels happy to be part of a team and connected to something worthwhile and gratifying and I thought she struck a lovely genuine friendship with James who become almost like a father figure, confidante and expert advice giver. Iris, who runs the florist across the road, also became a firm friend and confidante and she was a fabulous character. She was forthright and bold, always on the go and would lay her life down for those in need no questions asked. But it’s only when Will Silverwood who runs a jewellery shop and his niece Brodie are introduced that the wheels are set in motion which launch the mystery aspect of the book and in doing so the romantic element comes into play too. Hope is certainly taken on an emotional rollercoaster delving into the past that’s for sure.
Poor Will was struggling but always doing his best for Brodie who has not spoken since the death of her parents in a car accident. There is an instant sexual chemistry between Will and Hope when they first meet in the emporium but you could sense that Hope would battle against any feelings she felt she didn’t deserve to experience. When Brodie picks out a puzzle box that had come from a house clearance to look at it, she cleverly solves the way of opening the box which no one had been able to do up until this point. The contents within are a scarab ring from Egypt and a letter from the 1920’s detailing how a woman is returning an engagement ring.
I love history and my interest was piqued even more than it had already been by this point and I loved how Hope took it upon herself, almost like a personal mission, to discover who the ring belonged to and what were the actual circumstances surrounding the letter and the return of the ring? I thoroughly enjoyed how the past was expertly woven into this very much modern day story. It was like I was taken on two separate adventures but they joined together as one in the most satisfying of ways. In her quest to uncover more about the ring, Hope meets Ciaran McCormack, professor of Egyptology at York University.
Instantly, Ciaran stood out as being a gorgeous Irish man full of charm, a rock god who also loved academics and he quickly become more than just interested in the ring. He is smart, knowledgeable and attractive and at some points he just became that bit too much to be true. I felt Hope was cast under a spell by him and I wanted to shout at her there perhaps could be someone else in the wings that would serve and appreciate you much better.
Will experiences the same loneliness and grief that Hope does and as she establishes a real connection Brodie I desperately wanted things to sway from the direction they were venturing in. It was almost like Hope became so caught up in the story behind the ring as more and more comes to light. I won’t say anymore regarding the story of the ring. Suffice to say it was fascinating, gripping and heart-breaking but at the same time it taught Hope some important life lessons that when the wool was pulled from around her eyes it helped her see things more clearly and digest what she had been going through since Rob had passed away.
There are countless twists and turns in this brilliant story and I definitely think it’s Holly Hepburn’s best book to date. Not one fault could I find with it and the fact I read it so fast and didn’t leave it on the back burner is a mark of just how good it is. I enjoyed every minute journeying with Holly in her quest to solve the mystery behind the ring but at the same time this is a story of Holly finding true, good and long lasting friends, happiness, fulfilment, love, new talents, a passion for her work and a place she truly belonged. The Little Shop of Hidden Treasures is a wonderfully woven tale and the perfect slice of escapism that I am still sad that it had to end. Please Holly Hepburn and write something new that I can lose myself in as I loved this book from the first word to the very last.
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