“The Bookshop” — Movie Review

Inhabiting Love and Courage

Photo by Mark Timberlake on Unsplash

“She told me once, when we read a story, we inhabit it. The covers of the books are like a roof and four walls. A house. She, more than anything else in the world, loved the moment when you finished a book and the story keeps playing like the most vivid dream, in your head.” Thus starts the remarkably charming movie, “The Bookshop,” from the novel by British author Penelope Fitzgerald. I loved everything about this movie.

Set in 1950’s England, the film stars Emily Mortimer, who wears Wellingtons with a dress as well as any actress working today. An intrepid entrepreneur, widow Florence Green sets out to achieve her life’s passion: opening a bookshop in a conservative seaside village. She is assisted by several likable residents, the reclusive intellectual Mr. Brundish, played sensitively by Bill Nighy, and a quirky, underage shop girl, played by the talented actress who plays the young “Elizabeth” in “The Crown.”

Florence Green’s dreams come true, but are quickly invaded by the local Queen Bee, Mrs. Gammet, played stiffly by Patricia Clarkson. This viper in silk soon starts a series of problematic rumors designed to squash the new enterprise — but Mrs. Green squashes them under the heel of her Wellies and proceeds to open “The Old House Bookshop.” It all unfolds, organically, into a world I…