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GEODE
Every town should have a place like the Geode Cafe and Bookshop, where the citizens of Umbra River, California, can gather to chat, read, and sip espresso drinks. Geode—its name a nod to the town’s Goldrush past—is owned by retired schoolteacher and empty-nester Olivia, a cheerful woman plagued by occasional migraines. She loves that her two best friends are close by; Anna is an animal psychic and the owner of Besties, the pet supply store and animal shelter next door to the cafe, and Emmaline is an aspiring writer who uses the store’s storage closet as an office. Since her husband was killed by a drunk driver, the young Emmaline has been on her own with her 4-year-old son, Charlie—who, like Anna, displays some psychic gifts. The three friends meet for weekly dinner and gossip, where they get into the secrets—good and bad—of their private lives, as well as those of Umbra River’s history. When Charlie starts having visions of a ghostly boy on a horse, it leads the women into an investigation of the town’s darkest chapter. Corazza’s prose casts a comforting spell on the reader, in part because so much of it is dedicated to praising the atmosphere of Olivia’s shop: “Geode’s old plank floors gave Emmaline the feeling of being pulled into Geode’s warm, calmly lit space, and if the appearance didn’t do it, the aroma of dough baking and fresh coffee did.” The plot, such as it is, moves at a snail’s pace as the town and its characters are introduced from various perspectives, with much information repeated and many cute businesses described in great detail. Despite some exceptions—cafe manager Lucy is a stock Irishwoman out of a bad 1950s comedy—the characters are well rendered, and the reader is mostly content to listen in on their conversations as they navigate the sometimes strange but more often mundane twists in their personal lives.
Every town should have a place like the Geode Cafe and Bookshop, where the citizens of Umbra River, California, can gather to chat, read, and sip espresso drinks. Geode—its name a nod to the town’s Goldrush past—is owned by retired schoolteacher and empty-nester Olivia, a cheerful woman plagued by occasional migraines. She loves that her two best friends are close by; Anna is an animal psychic and the owner of Besties, the pet supply store and animal shelter next door to the cafe, and Emmaline is an aspiring writer who uses the store’s storage closet as an office. Since her husband was killed by a drunk driver, the young Emmaline has been on her own with her 4-year-old son, Charlie—who, like Anna, displays some psychic gifts. The three friends meet for weekly dinner and gossip, where they get into the secrets—good and bad—of their private lives, as well as those of Umbra River’s history. When Charlie starts having visions of a ghostly boy on a horse, it leads the women into an investigation of the town’s darkest chapter. Corazza’s prose casts a comforting spell on the reader, in part because so much of it is dedicated to praising the atmosphere of Olivia’s shop: “Geode’s old plank floors gave Emmaline the feeling of being pulled into Geode’s warm, calmly lit space, and if the appearance didn’t do it, the aroma of dough baking and fresh coffee did.” The plot, such as it is, moves at a snail’s pace as the town and its characters are introduced from various perspectives, with much information repeated and many cute businesses described in great detail. Despite some exceptions—cafe manager Lucy is a stock Irishwoman out of a bad 1950s comedy—the characters are well rendered, and the reader is mostly content to listen in on their conversations as they navigate the sometimes strange but more often mundane twists in their personal lives.
