The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry review, love and books

Lucy Hale, Kunal Nayyar, and Christina Hendricks in The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry tells about the second half of life, and second chances. It’s set in a bookstore on beautiful but fictional Alice Island near Boston, MA.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry begins with Amelia (Lucy Hale), a publisher’s representative, making her way by ferry to Alice Island where A.J. Fikry’s (Kunal Nayyar) bookstore awaits. The bookstore is a mess. A.J. is depressed and unkind. Amelia leaves without a sale to show for the trip.

It seems A.J. lost his wife two years ago and isn’t coping with the loss well at all. He gets drunk every night. On one such night, his priceless rare book Tamerlane vanishes.

The local police chief Lambiase (David Arquette) has no luck finding the precious book. His attention is soon on another situation. Someone leaves a two year old child named Maya in A.J.’s bookstore with a note to take care of her. Then the mother’s body is found washed up on the beach.

Maya is cute and verbal and A.J. keeps her for the weekend before deciding he wants to adopt her. There are many children playing Maya as this film races through years of life. Maya at 14 (Blaire Brown) is probably the most featured one.

Over the years with A.J. we get to know his sister Ismay (Christina Hendricks) and brother-in-law Daniel (Scott Foley), who is a successful novelist. These two have a less than perfect relationship.

The relationship between A.J. and Amelia turns into a romance. Progress is slow and careful with them. A.J. is a dad now. When Amelia finally joins them, a bookish little family of three is born.

The film has a sweet, innocent quality. The romance between A.J. and Amelia is not burning with chemistry but it works. There’s a lot of literary talk and references to both well-known and obscure books. Everything about Alice Island is magical, beautiful, and quaint. A.J. isn’t the only one who gets to enjoy second chances at life. Other characters in the story do as well. The bittersweet ending should have been sad but it was actually hopeful.

Gabrielle Zevin wrote the novel the film is based on as well as the screenplay.

This movie is streaming on Netflix and Hulu.


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