One womans passion for books and search for romance lie at the heart of this touching and funny novel about literature and longing in Los Angeles.

Women do different things when theyre depressed. Some smoke, others drink, some call their therapists, some eatAnd I do what I have always done go off on a book bender that can last for days.

Whenever shes in crisis her marriage ends, her career stalls, her fantasy man shows signs of human frailty Dora (named after Eudora Welty) escapes into not one, not two, but a carefully selected stack of books, shutting the door on the outside world until she emerges from her book binge strong enough to face her problems. Books have always been her saving grace, sheltering her during a difficult childhood and arming her with lessons and epigrams that are right for nearly every situation. But life is more complicated than a-book-a-day, and people like her ex-alcoholic mother and judgmental sister arent as compliant as beloved characters in a novel

Whether shes being seduced by a quotation-quipping Quixote, or explaining death to a child by reading from Charlottes Web, Dora is Every-reader, and her charming story, shot through with humour and humanity, will delight anyone whos ever sought solace in the pages of a book.