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Shelved Dreams in Penelope Fitzgerald's The Bookshop - Page 4

© Pamela St. Clair

Both Florence and the narrator share this same sarcasm and wit; hence, it's difficult to separate the two voices. And since the narrator's opinions mirror Florence's, they do not feel obtrusive. Rather, they contribute to the inevitability hinted at in the opening pages.

The following quote has been attributed to Fitzgerald: "It's very good for an idea to be commonplace. The important thing is that a new idea should develop out of what is already there so that it soon becomes an old acquaintance. Old acquaintances aren't by any means always welcome, but at least one can't be mistaken as to who or what they are." In The Bookshop, the old acquaintances are universal. They are recognizable for the different greedy and ruthless facets of human nature that they represent. Thus, when events steamroll ahead and neither Florence nor the narrator is surprised, the ending remains poignant, even though satire and sarcasm buffer the unhappy denouement.

The copyright of the article Shelved Dreams in Penelope Fitzgerald's The Bookshop - Page 4 in British Literature is owned by Pamela St. Clair. Permission to republish Shelved Dreams in Penelope Fitzgerald's The Bookshop - Page 4 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.