The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore: Book Review

The Lonely Hearts Book Club tells the story about a small-town librarian who starts a book club to brighten the life of an old curmudgeon.

Acknowledgements:

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and Libro.fm for the ALC of this audiobook. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.

From The Publisher:

Sloane Parker lives a small, contained life as a librarian in her small, contained town. She never thinks of herself as lonely…but still she looks forward to that time every day when old curmudgeon Arthur McLachlan comes to browse the shelves and cheerfully insult her. Their sparring is such a highlight of Sloane’s day that when Arthur doesn’t show up one morning, she’s instantly concerned. And then another day passes, and another.

Anxious, Sloane tracks the old man down only to discover him all but bedridden…and desperately struggling to hide how happy he is to see her. Wanting to bring more cheer into Arthur’s gloomy life, Sloane creates an impromptu book club. Slowly, the lonely misfits of their sleepy town begin to find each other, and in their book club, find the joy of unlikely friendship. Because as it turns out, everyone has a special book in their heart—and a reason to get lost (and eventually found) within the pages.

My Thoughts:

The Lonely Hearts Book Club is the story of a group of diverse characters who come together to form a book club. While the story has a sweet premise and some interesting moments, I found the story a little flat. Indeed, I struggled to keep myself engaged. Let me try and explain.

The book is told from the viewpoint of several characters. I chose the audiobook version of the book which I feel was a mistake. There are several characters both within and outside of the book club and it felt like the narrator struggled to make unique voices for each. As a result, it was sometimes difficult to determine who was speaking. If the audiobook had both male and female narrators, it would have been much easier to determine who was speaking. I therefore would recommend the printed version of the book over the audiobook.

I did enjoy the characters themselves and the way the group comes together to assist the frail elderly man, Arthur. The transformation of each of these characters as the book progressed was appreciated. But I did not feel the connection to these characters that made me care what happened next – an absolute must for me. Other readers may not experience this. Sometimes it’s just a case of being a mismatch between book and reader.

Readers who enjoy literary fiction told from multiple points of view will likely appreciate this book.

Similar Books I’ve Reviewed:

Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler

Thank You For Listening by Julia Whelan

Half-Blown Rose by Leesa Cross-Smith