The Page Turner by Viola Shipman ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

A young romance writer makes a discovery that throws her elitist family into chaos in this sharp, witty and entirely delightful family drama 

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

April 2025; Graydon House; 978-1525831638
audio, ebook, print (336 pages); women's fiction

This new Viola Shipman book brings to his readers what we expect from his books -- a great plot and interesting family dynamics plus a glimpse of the beauty of Michigan.  The Page Turner adds another level -- a look at books and how they are chosen by publishers and marketed.  The behind-the-scenes look at publishers gives the readers a glimpse of the cut-throat world of publishing.

Emma has just graduated from college and lives with her parents and her sister Jess.    Her parents are both published authors and own their own publishing company.  Their press is only interested in highbrow books and doesn't want to touch anything not on their level -- no romance or chick lit for them.  The books that they write are also very literary and never gain much popularity with the public.  Jess is a high-level influencer whose reviews can make or break a novel.  Emma, the black sheep of the family, is writing her first novel but it's a romance and she knows that her parents would be appalled.  When a family secret is uncovered, Emma has to decide if she will help her family even though she doesn't always believe in their approach to literature.  Will she bond with her family to save their legacy?

This book was an interesting look at the publishing industry.  There are still a lot of book snobs out there who look down on people who read best sellers or romances or thrillers.  They feel that their books are much more important even though they are read by lots fewer people.

I loved the characters in this book.  They were all very different but added their special touch to the story.  Jess was consumed with her influencer role and enjoyed the power that it brought her to make or break a novel.  The parents were overly pretentious and were definite book snobs but you could still see their love for each other and their family.  My favorite character was Emma.  Even though she wasn't sure what her role was in her family  - could she go from the black sheep to the person who saved the family legacy?  She was also a regular person who enjoyed reading romances and living at the family lake house.  She had little filter on what she said and she had some very funny comments throughout the book especially when dealing with people in her family and in the publishing world.

Viola Shipman brings his readers another fantastic book with a family that you won't soon forget and a wish to take a vacation in Michigan.

Buy The Page Turner at Amazon

Susan Robert grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is three hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.   

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