The Door-to-Door Bookstore: A Novel

by Carsten Henn

Overview

The charming international bestseller about an unlikely friendship between an elderly door-to-door bookseller and a nine-year-old girl that changes his life.

Small-town German bookseller Carl Kollhoff delivers his books to special customers in the evening hours after closing time, walking through the picturesque alleys of the city. These people are almost like friends to him, and he is their most important connection to the world.

When Kollhoff unexpectedly loses his job, it takes the power of books and a nine-year-old girl to make them all find the courage to rebuild their bonds with each other.

A bestselling phenomenon internationally, Carsten Henn's The Door-to-Door Bookstore is a feel-good novel about books and friendship.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781335490858
Publisher:	Hanover Square Press
Publication date:	07/04/2023
Edition description:	Original
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	9,626
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Carsten Henn has worked as a radio presenter, wine and restaurant critic, and has published a number of successful novels. He lives in Germany.

Editorial Reviews

01/19/2024

Henn makes his U.S. debut with this languidly paced and heartwarming charmer. Carl Christian Kollhoff has spent his long career working in a bookstore, hand-delivering personalized picks to customers. As he walks through his small town, some of whose medieval streets are still unpaved, every reader he visits has reasons to worry about the world. One remains housebound, another endures domestic abuse. Their fortunes take a worse turn when the daughter of the bookstore's owner takes over the shop and hangs Carl out to dry, both because she feels that hand delivery is antiquated and because she's jealous of Carl's close relationship with her father. During one of his dwindling deliveries, Carl finds a new friend, a nine-year-old girl who is a bright ray of disruption in his otherwise orderly life. She has spied him on his route and wants to join in. It might seem a small thing to deliver a book, but in the tradition of the most epic of tales, the Carl and the girl change the fates of many, including their own. VERDICT A best seller in Germany, this novel hits all the right notes. It will evoke A Man Called Ove and delight readers who, like Carl, understand life through the power of books.—Neal Wyatt

Library Journal

"The feel-good novel for all book lovers."―Spiegel online

"The most warm-hearted and touching novel we could wish for as readers for this special year. It is a book that somehow hugs you when you read it, it really pulls you into its arms."―Deutschlandfunk


"It is a warm-hearted story without kitsch with lovingly described protagonists. The right book for a dark rainy day, which immediately becomes a little brighter when you read it."―Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung


"The basic idea of the book - that an unselfconscious child turns the life of a lonely old man upside down - is not new. But Henn has created characters with great empathy who quickly grow on you."―Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger


"Henn's novel is a declaration of love for the written word, a cheerful, fast-reading feel-good book for in between."―Westfalen-Blatt


"A book that is about books must be written in an appropriate style. Carsten Henn succeeds in this with wonderful formulations and sentences that you want to learn by heart right away. A book to read often and again."―WDR 4 "Hier und heute"

"A book to snuggle up with, a book that warms and gives confidence. Just the thing for anyone who knows how important a good book can be."―Brigitte

"At least as great as the story is the author's language: full of love, light-footed, powerful. You cry while reading, you laugh and sometimes you do both at the same time."―Freundin

"Carsten Henn has written a sensitive, poetic novel about the magical power of books to connect people. This novel is a pleasure to read for all book lovers."―Aachener Zeitung

"With this quite fabulous book, Carsten Henn provides a surprise. The Cologne native became known for 'culinary-vinophile' crime novels. (...) 'Der Buchspazierer' is of a completely different calibre - one that turns out much more delicate and poetic."―Kölnische Rundschau

"This is a feel-good book that caresses the soul and conveys the beautiful message of books that make you happy."―Ruhr Nachrichten

"This charmer, translated from the German by Melody Shaw, is an unabashedly sentimental, determinedly uplifting novel about friendships forged through books."―NPR

“Completely satisfying.… A specific kind of summer fun.”―LA Times

From the Publisher

Henn’s novel is a declaration of love for the written word, a cheerful, fast-reading feel-good book for in between.”

Westfalen-Blatt

The feel-good novel for all book lovers.”

Der Spiegel (online)

The most warm-hearted and touching novel we could wish for as readers for this special year. It is a book that somehow hugs you when you read it. It really pulls you into its arms.”

Deutschlandfunk