Midnight At The Bright Ideas Bookstore

Our Review

Midnight At The Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan starts of by lulling the reader into a false sense of security describing a cosy book store every bookworm would want to visit. I don’t often read the blurb again before starting the book so I went in blind not knowing what the story was about. Big Mistake.

Within the first few pages there is a horrifying scene which will rid the reader of the notion that this is going to be a comfortable read. Having said that, I really enjoyed reading this.

It is around midnight and Lydia is closing up the 'Bright Ideas Book Store' for the night when she hears strange noises coming from the upper store, the sounds of books falling to the floor. Her colleague is pre-occupied with a couple who have descended on the store in order to use the toilets but he suspects they are having sex in there.

Lydia is wondering where he favourite patron Joey is. He comes in most days and she tries to speak to him whenever he is in but today she has been too busy to track him down. Joey is normally accompanied by his friend Lyle but he is alone today and that is an unusual occurrence.

Joey is one of a group of customers that Lydia calls ‘Book Frogs’ because they remind her of a character of Beatrix Potters. A group of mostly unemployed men who spend a large proportion of their time in the aisles of the bookshelves surrounding themselves by books as a barrier against others.

“Joey was the youngest of the Book Frogs, and by far Lydia’s favourite. This wouldn’t be the first time that she or one of her bookselling comrades had done a final sweep at closing and found Joey knocking books off the shelves, searching for a title that may or may not have actually existed.”

Joey is “haunted but harmless – a dust bunny blowing through the corners of the store.” Lydia enjoys his presence in the store and his company so she is devastated when she finds the source of the noise. Joey has hung himself from a ceiling beam in the shop.

Just as horrifying for Lydia is the item he is clutching in his hand; a photo of her taken on her 10th birthday, a photo she hasn’t seen for years. A time in her life Lydia doesn’t like to reflect on. The photo was taken shortly before she and her father fled a hospital in Denver and sought refuge in the mountains.

Lydia arrives home to her partner David and tells him about Joey but despite having been with him for so long she doesn’t tell him everything.

“Her gut was swimming. She leaned against the sink to steady herself and told David all about Joey. Except for the part about the photo. She shared almost everything with David – her bizarro sci-fi dreams, her fears about the future, her shifting rotation of phobias and anxieties – but not the ruins of her childhood. Some things were off – limits, even for the guy she loved. “

As the days pass since Joey’s death Lydia feels old memories and fears from her childhood begin to overtake her.

“A hairy wrist tucked into a white latex glove. A white latex glove gripping a claw hammer. A claw hammer spun through with a girl’s hair. And blood.”

What happened to Lydia when she was younger? And why did Joey have the photo of her?

When Lydia is bequeathed some of Joey’s possessions she finds he has left her a message hidden among the books he owned, a message with clues to what was happening in his life prior to his decision to kill himself.

I felt that Midnight At The Bright Ideas Bookstore deals with some difficult topics in a sensitive manner. Despite dealing with some horrific things I can’t say the book was particularly depressing.

It was a really enjoyable read and I read it within a few hours.

Our Final Rating...

Sun, 23rd July 2017