The book:
Gorsky by Vesna Goldsworthy
Published in 2015 by Chatto & Windus
Pages: 288
My version: Gift from mother-in-law!
The blurb:
London dances to the tune of Gorsky’s billions. The most enigmatic of oligarchs, Gorsky has been led to the city by his love for Natalia, whom he first knew in Russia. That she is now married to an Englishman is an inconvenient detail.
Gorsky desires and gets the best of everything. His mansion by the Thames is set to make Buckingham Palace look like an ungainly box by a roundabout. At its heart will be a grand library, denoting taste and breeding. Now he just needs the books.
When Gorsky’s armour-plated car halts in front of a down-at-heel bookshop, the startled young man behind the till receives the commission of a lifetime. The bookseller suddenly gains privileged access to the wealthy and the beautiful; a world filled with delectable books but fraught with danger…
My thoughts…
Our narrator, Nikola, works in a quiet and dusty old book shop in a rich part of London. His life goes from ordinary to extraordinary when Russian billionaire Gorsky walks into the shop and asks Nikola to fill the house he is building with books. This amazing commission is also linked to Natalia, a beautiful woman who the bookseller is already smitten with…
This is a short and very easy to read novel, which I whizzed through in no time! The novel is based on The Great Gatsby, but as I’m not overly familiar with that book this connection was largely lost on me so I was able to enjoy the novel for what it was!
Much of this story is pure fantasy and the characters and events are often unbelievable. But despite this, it is still a good read with an interesting story at its heart. I liked the simplicity of the novel, which is really a love story, and I also enjoyed the characters, particularly Natalia’s revoltingly posh husband Tom and bonkers friend Gery. I also enjoyed the London setting and the descriptions of this largely hidden world of the stinking rich.
If you fancy a quick read that is a bit different, then I would recommend this! It may also be an interesting read for fans of The Great Gatsby.
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