Reviewed by Emma Crowley
It was a shop full of wonder; sheets of colorful paper, pots of ink on every surface, and spools of ribbon suspended on gleaming brass hooks. But it was even more magical when it was filled with people. Rumor was that the owner, Tilly, could send letters to long-lost loved ones if you penned them on the long wooden desk…
Everyone on the island would go there, not just to buy writing supplies, but to write these letters. To the people they’d not been able to say goodbye to, to the people they wished would come home. The Paper House was a place for grieving, for remembering, for forgiving.
And now, years later, as Kayla reopens the beautiful front door, and feels the memories of her Great Aunt Tilly come flooding back, it has the chance to become a place for someone who lost everything to finally find herself again.
If only Kayla can find the courage to face the ghosts of the past…
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of The Paper House to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The Paper House is a new departure for Barbara Josselsohn as it is very different from recent previous novels that she has written. This story blends romance, historical fiction and a family mystery with magical realism. There are mentions of ghosts throughout which is where the magical realism comes in and to be honest I did have to suspend my disbelief for this as it’s not something that I would usually choose to read about in a book. I found myself glossing over these parts and didn’t overly focus on them as I felt for me they weren’t warranted in the story but that’s just my personal opinion. I did like that the story was told in the dual timeline format weaving consistently and effortlessly back and forth between the modern day and World War Two. The plot set in the past was the one which I favoured, and I would have loved even more of this.
The story centres around the little paper shop on Celestine Island in upstate New York. Kayla has inherited the special shop following the death of her great aunt Tilly. Kayla has not been to the island in twenty years since she spent one magical summer there. She is a person desperate to be loved and wanted as loneliness engulfs her and she feels like this emotion will remain with her forever. Those months that she spent living with Tilly were some of the most special and memorable but an event towards the end of her time there has tarnished her memories and even when Tilly died she still did not return for the funeral. It’s not explicitly said what happened at that time but Tilly does recount some things and the reader is left to fill in the gaps until the moment of revelation which occurs towards the end of the book. It’s only when something is discovered in the attic of the paper house that Kayla has no other choice but to come to the island and in doing so she must confront her demons but also uncover the true story of Tilly. A woman who was eccentric but underneath it all is full of kindness, understanding and compassion all these traits have been shaped by her past experiences.
Kayla, in the modern day, undertakes a journey of discovery to discover why the objects were left in the attic but also a trip of understanding as she comes to learn the importance of the paper house. What it meant to Tilly, the role it served in the community and could continue to do so if she chooses to keep it open. She goes back and forth over this as she has her own job working in a creche which she enjoys and needs to get back to. This is where I felt there was an awful lot of repetition as well as in several other places. If we were told once we were told I don’t know how many times that she needed to get back to her normal life. I did find this slightly frustrating. Alongside, local diner owner Evan, Kayla navigates her way through Tilly’s story uncovering bits piece by piece but it was Tilly’s story that held my interest far more.
The descriptions of the shop and all its contents were wonderful and so easy to visualise in my mind. The paper house was her life’s work and mission but why was this case. To understand we are taken back to 1944 where she secretly enrols in the Women’s Army Corps by lying about her age. She has had a rough few years family wise and wants to break free from her past and do something to help others. Working in England transcribing recordings and notes coming in from France and turning them into detailed reports. She meets a doctor from Ohio, Jack and it was obvious that she quickly falls head over heels for him. But he was nearly twice her age, and I sensed something about him that he was reluctant to fully embrace Tilly for whatever reason. Tilly builds connections with wounded soldiers during the war as similar to Jack she writes letters as dictated by the soldiers and promises to send them. This is her way of offering comfort when needed and she builds an emotional attachment to the job she has undertaken and this motivation and quest will be with her for the remainder of her life. This all highlights the importance of letter writing which is the dominant theme of the book around which the depth of Tilly’s story is interwoven.
Letters contain stories, messages and memories and things that could not be said in person to someone. We learn that Tilly established the paper house as a refuge for people where she can continue on the work she started in the war. People from all walks of life and for many varied reasons could come and pick up a pen and paper and pour their hearts out and each day Tilly would post those letters that could be sent and those that could not she kept safe. She was giving an emotional outlet to people but the reader is desperate to know the specific reasons for this and to this end I was always desperate to get back to chapters told from Tilly’s perspective. Tilly shows us how a small act of kindness can have consequences for generations. Letter writing is an art that can be painful but in going through the process it can lead to healing, forgiveness and understanding and as Kayla finds answers, she starts to connect things back to her own life and what has caused her distress and emotional baggage is slowly emerging and a new path may possibly be formed for her.
The Paper House was a bit of a mixed bag for me. On the one hand I loved Tilly’s story especially during the war but then on the other things were so vague and very abstract at times that I felt there needed to be something concrete to cling to and this was absent. I’m not sure was I the intended target audience for this one but as I had really enjoyed the authors recent historical fiction novels I wanted to give this one a go. I know there will be lots and lots of readers that will enjoy this story and take lots from it and enjoy the heartfelt and emotional message that it provides but for me it didn’t always hit the mark.
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