The Echo of Old Books

I was intrigued by the title and completely drawn in by the cover...not a great reason to read a book I know...but whatever it was that placed this little treasure in my hands will forever have my sincere gratitude. Now I have a book hangover, and my husband just waved to me as he went off to bed....and I vowed to read "just one more chapter". We all know how well that works for us! I stayed up most of the night and a great deal of the morning to finish it. I can honestly tell you that The Echo of Old Books is a love story. Not a romance.... a genuine love story....and a mystery that spans decades. It will tie your heart in knots and wring emotions from you that you didn't even know you had. Be prepared to raise to the heights of joy show more and to plunge to the depths of despair. It is emotional, quietly exciting and leaves the reader absolutely satisfied. The story is told over two historical timelines, aided by alternating chapters of two books: "Regretting Belle" written by Hemi, and "Forever and Other Lies" written in reply to Hemi's book by Belle. I just couldn't stop reading. I wiped away tears...I smiled...I was frustrated, angry...but ultimately, satisfied. This was my first book by Barbara Davis book, but it won't be my last. show less

Ashlyn Greer owns a bookstore in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She also binds and repairs damaged volumes (a possible metaphor for human beings whose souls have been shredded). Uncannily, when she handles a book, she can intuit the feelings of its former owner. In "The Echo of Old Books," by Barbara Davis, Ashlyn, who was raised by a depressed mother and unstable father, had once been married to a cheating spouse who died before their divorce became final. One day, Ashlyn picks up two beautifully bound books, "Regretting Belle" and "Forever, and Other Lies," and becomes intensely curious about who wrote these unpublished works and why.

I was intrigued by the novel's premise and format. In her chapters, Ashlyn recounts her experiences from show more the fifties to the eighties, and there are italicized passages from "Regretting Belle" and "Forever, and Other Lies" that span the forties and fifties. At first, Ashlyn has no idea who wrote "Regretting Belle" and "Forever, and Other Lies" because the authors are identified only by their nicknames, Belle and Hemi. These two individuals, who come from very different walks of life, fall in love but face formidable obstacles to their union. Belle and Hemi's riveting and at times contradictory versions of their affair focus to a large extent on Belle's wealthy and domineering father and conniving sister, both of whom pressure Belle to marry Teddy, a rich but well-connected wastrel.

Davis is a skilled storyteller who moves back and forth in time with ease. We empathize with Ashlyn, a loner who is reluctant to become romantically involved again after her marriage failed, and we share her fascination with Belle and Hemi's fraught relationship. The plot becomes thornier as it progresses, and the final pages are, alas, marred by predictable developments that culminate in an overly tidy conclusion. Still, this lengthy saga holds our interest, both for its human interest and its historical background. Especially before Pearl Harbor, powerful American businessmen, politicians, and even religious leaders championed isolationism and spread anti-immigrant propaganda. The author effectively demonstrates how misguided decisions ruin people's lives, especially when those they have wronged are not inclined to forgive them. show less

Innovative Use Of Both Duology And Story-Within-A-Story. There is so much to like about this book, but I suspect that later reviews will hit all you need to know about just how strong at least one of the two romances here is - one is clearly one of those life-altering once-in-a-lifetime loves which we mostly see play out via two books, the other romance is a more contemporary (40 years ago anyway, which is still more recent than the 80 yrs ago for the first romance) tale of two people coming together via unusual circumstance. But it is truly the duology/ story-within-a-story structure that I want to highlight here, as this is what truly propels this book and makes it everything that it eventually becomes. I'd never seen this particular show more approach done - yes, there are other books with stories-within-stories, but this was truly the first time I'd ever encountered a duology done this way, and Davis manages to make all *three* books - the duology plus this actual book we're actually reading "in real life" - truly compelling due to the nature of how she has crafted this. Simply superb, and truly, truly well executed. And yes, the actual romance aspects of this are well done, as are the heart-wrenching dramatics. You want a book for "Most Anticipated of 2023"? This very book had better be on that list. Very much recommended. show less

Books about books are always a favorite and The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis did not disappoint. In this case, the books are discovered by Ashlyn Greer, a young antique book dealer who is able to feel the vibrations and emotions of a book's past owners. She finds the two beautifully bound, evidently self-published books in a box and becomes obsessed with discovering the truth behind them. The books tell the story of a tragic love affair, each book written by one of the lovers. Davis masterfully weaves the three stories together: Ashlyn's search for the truth along with the two competing narratives from the lovers as they pursue forbidden love and experience deep betrayal. It was excellent.

Ashlyn Greer owns a bookstore in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She also binds and repairs damaged volumes (a possible metaphor for human beings whose souls have been shredded). Uncannily, when she handles a book, she can intuit the feelings of its former owner. In "The Echo of Old Books," by Barbara Davis, Ashlyn, who was raised by a depressed mother and unstable father, had once been married to a cheating spouse who died before their divorce became final. One day, Ashlyn picks up two beautifully bound books, "Regretting Belle" and "Forever, and Other Lies," and becomes intensely curious about who wrote these unpublished works and why.

I was intrigued by the novel's premise and format. In her chapters, Ashlyn recounts her experiences from show more the fifties to the eighties, and there are italicized passages from "Regretting Belle" and "Forever, and Other Lies" that span the forties and fifties. At first, Ashlyn has no idea who wrote "Regretting Belle" and "Forever, and Other Lies" because the authors are identified only by their nicknames, Belle and Hemi. These two individuals, who come from very different walks of life, fall in love but face formidable obstacles to their union. Belle and Hemi's riveting and at times contradictory versions of their affair focus to a large extent on Belle's wealthy and domineering father and conniving sister, both of whom pressure Belle to marry Teddy, a rich but well-connected wastrel.

Davis is a skilled storyteller who moves back and forth in time with ease. We empathize with Ashlyn, a loner who is reluctant to become romantically involved again after her marriage failed, and we share her fascination with Belle and Hemi's fraught relationship. The plot becomes thornier as it progresses, and the final pages are, alas, marred by predictable developments that culminate in an overly tidy conclusion. Still, this lengthy saga holds our interest, both for its human interest and its historical background. Especially before Pearl Harbor, powerful American businessmen, politicians, and even religious leaders championed isolationism and spread anti-immigrant propaganda. The author effectively demonstrates how misguided decisions ruin people's lives, especially when those they have wronged are not inclined to forgive them. show less

Two old books with no author listed. Two mysterious lives. Two lovers who blame each other for the end of their relationship forty years earlier.

Ashlyn, a rare book dealer with a passion for repairing books, is the one who finds these two books. She has a condition/gift called psychometry. She touches a book and she can feel the emotions of the person who read it. Based on the strong feelings the books transmit to her, she becomes obsessed with discovering the whole story. Her psychometric ability seemed like it was going to be an important factor, but it mostly served as the reason she was obsessed with these two particular books. It's rarely mentioned after that, which made it appear gimmicky.

Also, there were quite a few places in the show more narrative that did not pass the suspension-of-disbelief test for me.

Those I could get past. but the missteps by Ashlyn when it came to books bothered me. In this book, she's the author of "The Care & Feeding of Old Books" newsletter. Given that and her profession, she would know better than to put a bunch of sticky post-it notes in an old book (or any book). She also mentions a blurb printed on the inside front jacket. Blurbs are almost always printed on the back of a hardcover and usually on one of the first pages of a paperback.

And I need consistency, even if it's only the quotes at the beginning of the chapters. Twenty-three chapters take place in the present. Of the first 18, 17 quotes that introduce these chapters are attributed to Ashlyn, printed in her bookstore newsletter. Chapters 19 and 20 begin with quotes by other writers. Twenty-one goes back to Ashlyn. Twenty-two someone else and 23 Ashlyn again. Mixing it up is fine, but when 19 of the 23 are by Ashlyn, stick with the format.

SPOILER ALERT. Stop reading my thoughts here if you haven't finished the book yet.

The last four chapters are narrated by the female author of one of the two old books. Why wasn't the male author invited back for a say at the end? As a matter of fact, why wasn't the other main character, Ethan, given any chapters to narrate?

Finally, why did Ashlyn and Ethan read the books SO SLOWLY? If Ashlyn, and later Ethan, were so desperate to understand what had happened, wouldn't you think they'd read a little faster?

But this reader read quickly because despite its flaws, it was an engaging and satisfying story in the end. show less

"The number of lives we are capable of living is limited only by the number of books we choose to read."

A lovely quick read, split between the 1940/50s and the 1980s. Enjoyable characters with an engaging plot, although no great surprises. What I would call a fun beach book. I've noticed a number of historical fictions involving a secret/mystery now need to be set no later than the 1980/90s as the internet and social media would now reduce these stories to a handful of pages at most.