The Little Village of Book Lovers: A Novel

A young woman with the extraordinary power to bring soulmates together searches for her own true love in this tender, lyrical standalone novel inspired by the “bona fide international hit” (The New York Times Book Review) The Little Paris Bookshop

In Nina George’s New York Times bestseller The Little Paris Bookshop, beloved literary apothecary Jean Perdu is inspired to create a floating bookstore after reading a seminal, pseudonymous novel about a young woman with a remarkable gift. The Little Village of Book Lovers is that novel.

"Everyone knows me, but none can see me. I am that thing you call Love."

In a little town in the south of France in the 1960s, a dazzling encounter with Love itself changes the life of little orphan Marie-Jeanne forever.

As a girl, Marie-Jeanne realizes she can see the marks Love has left on the people around her—little glowing lights on the faces and hands that shimmer more brightly when the one meant for them is near. Before long, Marie-Jeanne is playing matchmaker, bringing true loves together in her little town. 

As she grows up, she helps her foster father, Francis, begin a mobile library that travels all throughout the many small mountain towns in the region of Nyons, and finds herself bringing soulmates together every place they go—and there are always books that play a pivotal role in that quest. In fact, the only person that she can't seem to find a soulmate for is herself. She has no glow of her own, though she waits and waits for it to appear. Everyone must have a soulmate, surely—but will Marie-Jeanne be able to recognize hers when Love finally comes to her?

Story Locale:South of France, 1960s

About the Author

Nina George is the author of The Little Paris Bookshop, The Little French Bistro, and The Book of Dreams. The Little Paris Bookshop spent more than forty weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was translated into thirty-six languages. George is president of the European Writers' Council. She is married to the writer Jens J. Kramer. Together they also write mystery novels and children's books. Nina George lives in Berlin and in a little fishing village in the Bretagne.

Author Residence: Berlin, Germany

Author Hometown: Bielefeld, Germany