Publication Date: February 14, 2023
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 . . . .
Victoria uses books as an escape from an unfulfilling marriage where she is expected to become someone she is not. Books also give her a security blanket to observe others and mentally create stories about their lives.
Author Robin Yeatman delivers a unique story in Bookworm that highlights a main character ready to rewrite her own life.
When Victoria sets eyes on Luke at the coffee shop, she devises all sorts of scenarios in her mind. It’s evident that her mind is a fertile place, especially since she seems obsessed with finding ways to kill her husband.
The writer adds a deeper dimension by highlighting the friendship between Holly and Victoria that is tangled with secrets. When the secrets come to life, Victoria is faced with an opportunity.
Bookworm uses references from well-known book titles to set the foundation. Ultimately, this is a story showing what happens when fantasy meets reality.
Robin Yeatman is a shameless bookworm who was born in Calgary and raised in Vancouver, Canada. Educated in British Columbia and England, she studied literature, trained as a broadcast journalist, and worked in radio as a morning show producer. After a dozen years in Montreal, she now lives in Vancouver. Bookworm is her first book.
