[The Bookshop] Well, it reminded me a little of Thomas Hardy (Mayor of Casterbridge). The characters are a little under-developed. The plot seems to be the actual point. The action of the story - not how the characters change, but a general outline; told in almost a boring voice. The book also had the [ Blue Flower ] , which made me crazy. I like the idea behind both plotlines - it shows how life moves on and cannot slow down. Maybe characters remain underdeveloped so you can see how unimportant they are in the grand scheme of things. Maybe it's a way to show us our place within it all. ( )