Title: Bookworm
Author: Robin Yeatman
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Publication Date: February 14, 2023
Genre: Fiction
A wickedly funny debut novel—a black comedy with a generous heart that explores the power of imagination and reading—about a woman who tries to use fiction to find her way to happiness.
Victoria is unhappily married to an ambitious and controlling lawyer consumed with his career. Burdened with overbearing in-laws, a boring dead-end job she can’t seem to leave, and a best friend who doesn’t seem to understand her, Victoria finds solace from the daily grind in her beloved books and the stories she makes up in her head. One day, in a favorite café, she notices an attractive man reading the same talked-about bestselling novel that she is reading. A woman yearning for her own happy ending, Victoria is sure it’s fate. The handsome book lover must be her soul mate.
There’s only one small problem. Victoria is already married. Frustrated, and desperate to change her life, Victoria retreats to the dark places in her mind and thinks back to all the stories she’s ever read in hopes of finding a solution. She begins to fantasize about nocturnal trysts with café man, and imaginative ways (poisoned pickles were an inspired choice in Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres) of getting rid of the dread husband.
It’s all just harmless fantasy born of Victoria’s fevered imagination and her books—until, one night, fiction and reality blur and suddenly it seems Victoria is about to get everything she’s wished for . . . .
Why This Book
Bookworm is a fascinating story of one woman out to get her husband so she can be with a man she keeps fantasizing about. There’s little love in their marriage, which is on its own quite strange. They stick together with threadbare reasons, but Victoria always just seems to want something else as she perceives it to be better. And what better way to keep her standard of living and have the freedom to pursue another man than to off her husband? Either fortunately or unfortunately she doesn’t seem to be very good at it, so it felt like an approach to a thriller novel from the opposite point of view. Though, luckily for Victoria, her husband seemed quite dense.
Reviews
My review: “Bookworm is all about Victoria trying half-baked ideas to get rid of her husband so she can be with the man she thinks is her soulmate all because they were reading the same book. Or are they half-baked? This managed to be both dark and lighthearted with some truly odd and bizarre events”
Karenika gave this 2 stars, saying “I am sorry to say that I really really did not like this book. I felt like each of the characters in it were one dimensional. The main character falls in love with a random guy because he’s reading the same book she is (which she hates.) She also hates her husband. She dislikes her best friend. She dislikes pretty much everything”
Bookish Chronicles said “Robin Yeatman’s debut novel is an entertaining ride of whimsy and dark comedy”
Novels Alive gave this 4.5 stars, saying “Author Robin Yeatman delivers a unique story in Bookworm that highlights a main character ready to rewrite her own life”
A Literary Escape gave this a 3.75 rating, saying “Although the cover art suggests BOOKWORM is a lighter read, it’s actually a dark comedy. None of the characters are all that likeable, and the author writes them as such on purpose. It’s certainly easier to feel more sympathetic toward Victoria than Eric. But in the end Victoria isn’t all that better than the book characters she complains about who do nothing to help themselves“
Purchase Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop | Target | Walmart | Booktopia (Australia) | Books-A-Million | !ndigo (Canada) | Kobo | Audible | Apple Books | Book Depository | Blackwell’s (UK)
Check out all the other books featured this month on The Curated Bookshelf.
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