The Messy Lives of Book People by Phaedra Patrick (Review by Lara Ferguson)

Rating: 5/5 ⭐

Phaedra Patrick has done it again! The author of The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper has given us another delightful story of real people. The Messy Lives of Book People is an enticing journey of personal discovery and relational growth delivered with honesty and fantastic storytelling.

Liv Green has always been surrounded by the book world. Her nearly perfect dad was a Literature professor, and her currently distracted husband and his family own a publishing house. She always thought she would be a writer, but as is often the case, life happened, children happened, and she became a cleaner to help make ends meet. Before she knows it, the children are grown, she is a bit at loose ends, and not at all the person she thought she would be.
When she lands a job, cleaning for her favorite author and personal hero, Essie Starling, she is elated and a little intimidated. Over the years, Essie has become a mysterious and seldom seen figure. Just as the bristly Essie and the timid Liv begin to get to know one another, Essie dies, leaving Liv with a very strange last instruction. Liv must finish Essie’s final book.

As Liv struggles to fulfill Essie’s final wish, she is forced to confront herself, the dreams she lost without realizing it, and the woman she wants to be. Ms. Patrick, with her prose, brings the reader along for Liv’s journey, never inventing drama or adding unnecessary details.

This story is real. It describes what happens to many of us as we go through life just dealing with events as they occur. We wake up one day not sure how we got where we are or where we intended to go. Phaedra gives Liv the opportunity to figure that out, beautifully.