The Charmed Library

Words literally come to life for a lonely assistant librarian in this exquisite tale from Moorman (The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds). One night, heartbroken over a breakup, Stella Parker throws her journal into the library’s furnace. Soon after, her words retaliate, hitting her so hard she feels like she’s being stabbed through the heart. Searching the library for answers, she encounters some strange characters, including a man who says he’s Jack Mathis, the handsome American WWII soldier at the heart of her favorite novel, Beyond the Southern Horizon. After Stella accidentally unleashes the villainous Captain Hook from the pages of Peter Pan, she learns the rules of the magical library and works together with Jack to catch Hook, who’s far more dastardly in Moorman’s hands than in J.M. Barrie’s story. As they fall for each other along the way, Jack and Stella grapple with the fact that his time in the real world expires in just a few days, which Stella’s mentor, Arnie Cohen, explains to her. Moorman drops in plenty of delightful details, such as the appearance of Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice, who dazzles the library’s women patrons, and she makes it easy to suspend disbelief, considering that, as Arnie says, “The world is full of the impossible.” It’s a marvel. Agent: Ami McConnell, McConnell Literary. (Jan.)