Battle of the Bookstores

Josie Klein is a protagonist, point-of-view character, and the female love interest of the novel. Ryan describes her as a “pretty” but unapproachable “ice-queen” with dark hair, green eyes, and high heels (13). Her outward appearance is indicative of her inward persona. After a tumultuous childhood witnessing the highs and lows of her mother’s many failed relationships, Josie is jaded toward love and the fairytale concept of “happily ever after.” Following several interactions with her, Ryan then categorizes Josie as “a textbook firstborn—a hardworking, high-achieving perfectionist” (183).

During their first official meeting, Ryan gets “the sense Josie never lets her hair down—literally or figuratively” (13). Though he doesn’t know her yet, he’s already noticing her need for control and order. Josie’s aversion to clutter (apparent in Happy Endings) and preference for tidy minimalism (apparent in Tabula Inscripta) exhibits these coping mechanisms she’s created for dealing with the trauma of her past. Clutter reminds her of her childhood home and the neglect she and Georgia experienced during the low periods of her mother’s unstable love life.

In the five years since she dropped out of college to care for her younger sister, Georgia, after a near-fatal accident, Josie has dedicated herself to becoming the best bookseller she can be “to prove that a college dropout can make something of her life” (2).