>The title enticed me to read it. The plot pulled me in and kept me turning the pages. Mameve Medwed’s How Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved my Life is as delightful as its name.
The story unfolds through the eyes of Abby, a dealer in antiques/junk/collectibles and a Harvard drop-out, much to the dismay of her scholarly parents. Her restrictive and somewhat sheltered college-town upbringing did not prepare her well for a life outside of academia, but her intelligence and creativity nonetheless serve her well. Abby talks directly to the reader at times, giving background as needed to explain the long and winding road to her current predicaments. The boy next door, her best friend, and her eccentric co-workers come alive through her perspective. Like them or not, they’re important to her, and they become important to us.
If you’ve ever watched or even heard of The Antiques Roadshow, you’ll find Abby’s adventures thoroughly believable. It doesn’t spoil the plot to let you know that her appearance on the show changes her life for better and for worse, and fills it with adventure as well. I thoroughly enjoyed How Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved my Life. The poet in me, the liberal arts graduate, and the PBS fan took to this book like a duck to water. I really, truly couldn’t put it down.