Love Covers All

Lost For Words by Stephanie Butland is a beautiful and powerful contemporary novel that will stay with you long after the last page is read.

Set in a second hand bookshop in York, the reader is in for a real treat – books within a book. Books that will evoke memories. Familiar quotes. Plus a ‘dear reader’ transported this reader back in time and place. A paradise for the book lover and an absolute delight.

The novel is about love, loss and life. It is beautifully written. The reader ‘feels’ the conflicting emotions of the lead character. We understand her motivations and why she seeks solace in books.

Being written in the first person enables us to really get into the head of the character. The story alternates between present day, three years earlier and 1999, as the back story is gently unravelled.

Family is important. Traditional roles portrayed. “Dads were for being protective and unbreakable.” Every little girl wants to have a Dad who makes her feel protected. Family is not just blood relatives but “Your-family-is-the-people-who-remember-your-birthday-and-look-after-you-when-you-are-ill.” There is a wonderful family of what some may term misfits, but who love and protect. This love just radiates throughout.

There is the difficult topic of domestic abuse. The person you fell in love with is still there. “Unless you’ve been there you can never understand that you might love someone who hurts you.” So what do you do?

The whole novel is covered in love. Love is complicated. Love is messy. And love is beautiful.

Lost For Words is a study of love and friendship. It is stunningly beautiful in its rawness and its honesty. I loved it.

Unbelievably beautiful.

I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

JULIA WILSON