Publication Date: September 2, 2026
It was a shop full of wonder; sheets of colorful paper, pots of ink on every surface, and spools of ribbon suspended on gleaming brass hooks. But it was even more magical when it was filled with people. Rumor was that the owner, Tilly, could send letters to long-lost loved ones if you penned them on the long wooden desk…
Everyone on the island would go there, not just to buy writing supplies, but to write these letters. To the people they’d not been able to say goodbye to, to the people they wished would come home. The Paper House was a place for grieving, for remembering, for forgiving.
And now, years later, as Kayla reopens the beautiful front door, and feels the memories of her Great Aunt Tilly come flooding back, it has the chance to become a place for someone who lost everything to finally find herself again.
If only Kayla can find the courage to face the ghosts of the past…
A compelling and captivating novel full of heart, imagination and magic, The Paper House is perfect for fans of The Lost Bookshop, The Glass House and The Keeper of Lost Things.
When Kayla inherits her great-aunt’s store, she drags her feet in returning to the island that holds so many mixed memories.
Author Barbara Josselsohn infuses a letter-writing storyline with a bit of magic and an emotionally touching dual timeline in The Paper House.
The core of the story centers around Great Aunt Tilly’s writing shop, where residents gather to write letters to long-lost loved ones. The descriptive language describing the lost art of letter writing evokes a place of wonder.
Reopening the store means Kayla must deal with the events of a painful summer. Through a past/present lens, readers learn about Tilly’s life in 1944 and a secret that comes to light thanks to Kayla’s research.
The Paper House serves as a reminder of the power of words in a beautiful story about love and loss.
Barbara Josselsohn is an award-winning journalist and novelist who loves crafting stories about strong protagonists facing a fork in the road. Her novels center around second chances, family relationships and, of course, romance. She is the author of the Lake Summers series set in the fictional town of Lake Summers, nestled in the Adirondacks Mountains, which includes the books The Lilac House and The Bluebell Girls. Before joining with Bookouture, she published The Last Dreamer, a women’s-fiction novel from Lake Union Publishing, along with hundreds of articles and essays in major and regional publications about family, home and relationships. She lives just north of New York City and enjoys escaping to the beach or the mountains whenever she can. Other than writing, her biggest passion is her family: husband, her three kids, and her indefatigable shih-poo!
