Widower Mukesh lives a quiet life in Wembley, in West London after losing his beloved wife. He shops every Wednesday, goes to Temple, and worries about his granddaughter, Priya, who hides in her room reading while he spends his evenings watching nature documentaries.
Aleisha is a bright but anxious teenager working at the local library for the summer when she discovers a crumpled-up piece of paper in the back of To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s a list of novels that she’s never heard of before. Intrigued, and a little bored with her slow job at the checkout desk, she impulsively decides to read every book on the list, one after the other. As each story gives up its magic, the books transport Aleisha from the painful realities she’s facing at home.When Mukesh arrives at the library, desperate to forge a connection with his bookworm granddaughter, Aleisha passes along the reading list…hoping that it will be a lifeline for him too. Slowly, the shared books create a connection between two lonely souls, as fiction helps them escape their grief and everyday troubles and find joy again.
Mukesh's wife, Naina, died nearly two years ago, but Mukesh is still grieving. His adult daughters whisper about him, but he's - well, not happy, but used to his quiet routines; he shops and visits Temple (occasionally) and otherwise stays home watching his beloved documentaries. His life is small and predictable and suits him.
Aleisha didn't plan to work in the library this summer, not with everything that's going on at home, and she intends to blow off the customers and waste her time. But something about the quiet elderly man reaches her, and when she finds a mysterious book list tucked away, she resolves to share it with him, little knowing it will change both of their lives.
I'm going to confess: I haven't read all the books on The List.
It's very hard to read everything you want! These books are absolutely classics, and I'll get to them sometime (maybe not Rebecca, they've made that sound so creepy!) but I haven't read them all yet. It doesn't matter though; Sara evokes the feel of them beautifully as she writes here, explaining the lessons the characters take from them without making it seem like she's lecturing the reader at all.
I loved the gradual change from kind of adversaries to friends that happens between Mukesh and Aleisha. I always feel like friendships are deeper when both parties have worked at them, and that's definitely what happens here. I also love how this one friendship influences so many other people around them. But possibly my fabourite thing is how this shows that grief can take years to even begin to heal, and that even then it's a slow process. Mukesh wasn't suddenly 'over' losing Naina; he just learned how to fit himself in his new, Naina-less life. It's a really lovely read.
This is a big book, but if you can devote the time to it, you'll find it well worth it, I promise.
(Please note that I've rated it adult due to the size, and because of the way one character dies. Other than that, there's nothing here a teenager couldn't read if they wanted to.)
The Reading List publishes on the 22nd of July, 2021, in the UK (top image) and on the 3rd of August, 2021, in the US (lower image.) I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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