Anne Hart

Is there an author you want to read every book they’ve written? After I read The London House, I knew I wanted to read every book by Katherine Reay.  So I’m making my way through her books.  The Printed Letter Bookshop was next on my list and it did not disappoint.  It’s a warm cozy read about legacies, friendships, and the power of books.   Madeline inherits a small bookshop from her estranged Aunt Maddie.  Madeline has a career as an attorney through so she decides she will sell the bookshop and continue her life as usual.  Due to a setback at work she stays longer than intended trying to get The Printed Letter in better shape to be able to sell it.   The employees at The Printed Letter, Claire and Janet become much more than employees to Madeline.  Although Madeline is the main character, the chapters alternate from her point of view to also that of Claire and Janet.  All three are facing life issues and changes.  Each one of...

This book is a neat look at art during WWII as the Nazi soldiers “invade”.  The story starts in Rome in 1943.  Art lover, Marina Tozzi, helps her father run an art gallery there.  Her father is killed for harboring a Jewish artist.  Marina flees to Florence’s Villa I Tatti, owned by her father’s friend, American Bernard Berenson. He has accumulated a collection of artwork that he wants to protect and eventually donate to Harvard.  Also at the villa is  Belle da Costa Greene, the famed librarian who curated J.P. Morgan’s library.   I read The Personal Librarian which is a book about Belle’s work at J.P. Morgan’s library.  The way I pictured Belle while reading The Personal was completely different than how I pictured her in A Girl During the War.  Belle works beside Marina as Bernard sneaks art pieces to Switzerland. The next-door neighbor Carlos becomes a love interest of Marina’s.  He disappears though.  At the end of the bo...