IT'S ME THEY FOLLOW

In this bildungsroman of middle age, an aspiring bookseller wrestles her fears for love and professional fulfillment.

The aspiring Philadelphia bookstore proprietor at the center of this dreamily lyrical debut struggles with a phobia of touch that has long stymied her deepest desires. As the 40-year-old heroine—known only as “The Shopkeeper” for most of the novel—confesses to her writing-group classmates, she has never been kissed. And she’d like to change that. But more pressingly, the Shopkeeper—like the author, who is the proprietor of the real Harriett’s Bookshop in Philadelphia—is on the verge of fulfilling a lifelong dream of opening a bookstore named after her guide and inspiration, the legendary abolitionist and freedom fighter Harriet Tubman. But a shopkeeper who can’t come near her customers for fear of passing out is at a disadvantage. Since childhood, the Shopkeeper’s condition—haphephobia—has been so severe that a simple touch can cause her to feel a shock of electricity and lose consciousness. So she’s lived in her head, taking refuge in books—so much so that at times it’s hard for her (and for the reader) to distinguish what’s really happening from imagination. Now though, on the cusp of a new year, the Shopkeeper is determined; she has “declared this her year to conquer fear” and finally open the doors of the store. Joining that purposeful writing group “designed to help slowly bring trauma to the surface in a controlled manner” is part of the plan. Falling for a mysterious bearded man who says he, too, can’t be touched because he’s in training to be a monk is not. But he keeps popping up like magic. With his help and that of family and friends, change is finally within reach.

Romance is only part of the payoff in this quirky yet humane story of a lonely shopkeeper conquering her fears.