Preloved
By Lauren Bravo
Preloved is an uplifting book set within a charity shop. Thanks to Simon and Schuster, I have reviewed from the e-book. Find out more in the blurb and then my thoughts in the full review below.
Blurb
A love story about things…
Gwen’s life has stalled. She’s in her mid-thirties, perpetually single, her friends are busy procreating in the country and conversations with her parents seem to revolve entirely around herbaceous borders and the council’s wheelie-bin timetable. Above all she’s lonely. But then, isn’t everyone?
When Gwen’s made redundant from a job she drifted into a decade ago and never left, she realises it’s time to make a change. Over what might be the best – and most solitary – meal she’s ever eaten, Gwen vows to find something meaningful to do with her life, reconnect with her family and friends – and finally book herself a dentist appointment.
Her search for meaning soon leads her to volunteer in a local charity shop where she both literally and metaphorically unloads her emotional baggage. With the help of the weird and wonderful people she meets in the shop and the donated items bursting with untold stories that pass through its doors, Gwen must finally address the events and choices that led her to this point and find a way to move forward with bravery, humanity and more regular dental care.
Brimming with life, love and the stories bound up in even the most everyday items, Preloved is a tale about friendship, loss, being true to oneself no matter the expectations – and the enduring power and joy of charity shops.
Review
I’d connect with Gwen in a heartbeat. I relate to her, plus I volunteer, although, unlike her, I never offload any emotional baggage, but like her, happy for others to.
Gwen has discovered, come a certain age, the talk is often about babies and household chores. She’s also discovered that when you’re single, there’s also many other things that there are other things that also go on in your life, but can’t always be talked about because no one else understands anymore or friends are wrapped up with their own lives.
Gwen, after facing a series of this and winds up feeling very lonely and for the reader, you wind up feeling very sorry for her because you know she isn’t invisible, she does exist, but not necessarily enough for people to truly see her. Then to make matters worse, she’s made redundant.
As things change, Gwen decides volunteering would be a good road to go down and ends up in a charity shop. As she unloads all sorts of baggage from people, she also offloads emotional baggage and so do the people entering the shop.
It’s a somewhat thought-provoking book about how we treat single people, but its also an uplifting book about new-found friendship and turning your life around.
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