The Riverside Drive Series
Charlotte Rydberg had a dream, and she had a plan: start a family, continue building her business, and live out a quiet life in her lovely house in Southern Sweden. Then her husband, Alex, died in a tragic car crash, and everything changed.
When Charlotte learns that she has inherited an old bookshop in London from a long-lost aunt, she is still deep in her grief. She crosses the North Sea, intending to rid herself of the burden of owning a rundown store, but the people working at the Riverside bookshop slowly thwart her plans. Sam, Martinique, William and the cat Tennyson, each with their own way of easing the weight on Charlotte’s shoulders, bring a warmth into her life that she hasn’t realized that she’s been missing. However, the bookshop’s finances are in ruins, and Charlotte has her own company back in Sweden to consider. On top of it all, the entire ordeal is riddled with unresolved questions and secrets about Charlotte’s own family. In the end, Charlotte finds answers to both what happened between her mother and aunt in the past, and what she wants her future to look like. She decides to stay in London to revive both the bookshop and her life together with her newfound family.
A year and a half later, Charlotte runs the modestly successful bookshop on Riverside Drive. Against all odds, she has fallen in love with William, the grumpy author who lives above the store, and they are even planning on moving in together. Though her new life has brought her comfort and joy, her heart still feels torn, caught between her past life with Alex and what could have been, and the future she now envisions with William. While William becomes increasingly absorbed in his flourishing writing career, which overshadows their relationship, Charlotte is haunted by unanswered questions about Alex – was his death truly an accident?
Charlotte travels back to Sweden in search for answers, and meanwhile, her colleague Sam has undertaken the task of tracking down a copy of a long-lost classic called The Hardy Tree’s Society for a customer. The book, said to be based on a true story, follows five young adults whose summer together ends in tragedy. Sam’s search is fraught with obstacles, not the least because the author mysteriously vanished decades ago. For Sam, this is more than just a mere job task: it is her chance to prove herself to Charlotte and earn a promotion. Will Sam succeed in her quest, and will Charlotte finally find the peace and comfort she desperately needs?
This charming feelgood duology about the bookshop on Riverside Drive was an instant success with over 150.000 copies sold in Sweden alone. Here, Frida Skybäck delivers two heartwarming novels with loveable characters whose warmth and quirks shine through the pages, immersing the reader into the vibrant heart of London.
