Ángel wants to be left alone. After losing the love of his life, this doctor opens up a small bookshop in Teruel, hoping to find refuge among books and let the days go by. But there is one small flaw in his plan: bookshops have a door for people to walk through, and customers arrive with more than just their next read in mind.
In El club de las dos páginas (The Two-Page Club) by Ángeles Doñate, a boy who hates reading spends time with an older woman who has only just learned how, a young blind woman who has given up on books, a mechanic in love with a reader, and an executive who needs to rebuild her life. They are also joined by a white cat who seems to understand exactly what is going on. With very different stories and backgrounds, they will all join a club where two pages are enough to get started.
There is something particularly inviting about it: joining does not require an impressive home library nor having finished the book. Two pages get the conversation started and make room for people who approach reading from very different perspectives. Even those who believe reading has nothing to offer to them. And Ángel, who was hoping to find a hiding place, will have to make room for other people’s lives while trying to keep his from falling apart.
With nods to classic authors and a small bookshop in Teruel at its core, this feel-good novel is also an exploration of grief, friendship, and finding something to look forward to again. What’s intriguing is what might bring this unlikely group together and how life will change for the bookseller who unknowingly opened the door to them.
Ángeles Doñate knows a great deal about stories built around human connections. Journalist and writer from Barcelona, she made her solo fiction debut with El invierno que tomamos cartas en el asunto, which has been translated to eleven languages. Her books also include El último vagón, adapted into film by Netflix, Un té para curar el alma, co-written with Francesc Miralles, and her previous novel, La vida en una taza de té. Now she is inviting us into a bookshop where the reasons to stay go well beyond its shelves.
If you enjoy books that follow multiple people, quirky bookshops, and characters you could happily go on listening to, this club is for you. El club de las dos páginas is available now in bookshops. You can start with just two pages; the hard thing will be to stop there.
