Rooms are the human imagination made real and they resonate with histories that are both personal and universal. Birth, death and all the chapters of life in between are framed within rooms. We impress our taste and personality on them, fill them with meaningful and beautiful objects, and, in turn, they bear witness to the events both great and small that shape our lives.

Among the interiors featured in this book are the earthen dovecote fashioned within the derelict Tattershall Castle, the delicate Shell Gallery of A la Ronde and the magnificent carved room at Petworth. The book concludes with a useful illustrated glossary of technical terms and architectural features.

Without question, Fawn Birchill knows that her used bookstore is the heart of West Philadelphia, a cornerstone of culture for a community that, for the past twenty years, has found the quirkiness absolutely charming. When an amicable young indie bookseller invades her block, Fawn is convinced that his cushy couches, impressive selection, coffee bar, and knowledgeable staff are a neighborhood blight. Misguided yet blindly resilient, Fawn readies for battle.

But as she wages her war, Fawn is forced to reflect on a few unavoidable truths: the tribulations of online dating, a strained relationship with her family, and a devoted if not always law-abiding intern-not to mention what to do about a pen pal with whom she hasn’t been entirely honest and the litany of repairs her aging store requires.

Through emails, journal entries, combative online reviews, texts, and tweets, Fawn plans her next move. Now it’s time for her to dig deep and use every trick at her disposal if she’s to reclaim her beloved business-and her life.