Just Jennifer

The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler (Gallery, August 2013)

Esme Garland, a young English woman, has come to Columbia University to study Art History and finds herself pregnant by her handsome boyfriend, Mitchell van Leuven, who is old money and a bit of a playboy, by his own admission.  Completely lost and unsure, Esme finds herself attracted to an Upper West Side used bookstore, The Owl, and to the assortment of interesting employees and customers.  As Esme works through her relationship with Mitchell, including a holiday with his family in East Hampton, she realizes, though her friends she makes at The Owl, that she is self-reliant and is quite capable and able to make decision for herself and her unborn child.  She also finds that true friendship can be found in some unexpected places, including George the owner, the brooding guitar player Luke and the homeless men who frequent The Owl and take Sophie under their wings and protect and encourage her even in their less than ideal circumstances.