by Libby Page
First published 2026
Tilly Nightingale gets an unexpected phone call. Her local bookshop has a birthday present waiting from her husband Joe. The call shocks her because Joe died five months earlier. At the bookstore, owner Alfie explains the gift Joe arranged before his death. Twelve books wait for Tilly, each paired with a handwritten letter from Joe, one for every month of her first year alone. Tilly hasn't read for pleasure in years and can barely imagine losing herself in fiction now. But Joe's loving words in the first letter persuade her to try. The books pull her into their worlds. Her monthly visits to collect each new book become conversations with kind Alfie. The stories Joe chose inspire Tilly to take adventures around the world. She starts sharing her reading journey with others. Through Joe's carefully selected books and letters, Tilly discovers courage she didn't know she possessed and begins writing a new chapter of her own life.
Genres: fiction, romance, literary-fiction, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, second-chance
Setting: Bookshop
Period: Five Months After Death
391 pages · Paperback · Viking