The Library of Broken Promises

By E.A. Owell

Eliza Reid is a 12-year-old girl from a small English town who is keen on reading and football, and is not very much into domestic chores and school. She thinks her life is quite boring and she's on the lookout for something more exciting.

One day, instead of school, she wanders into an old bookshop. Through this very bookshop, she discovers the most peculiar place she has ever seen - the Library of Broken Promises! Eliza is swept into the wondrous world of the Library and its inhabitants, which changes her life forever.

But trouble comes when something inexplicable happens to the magical books in the Library, putting the very balance of truth and lies at stake. People's word is worth less and less, and they start drowning in hostility and distrust. Eliza's family is affected, too.

She must intervene and solve the mystery of the Library of Broken Promises before it's too late!

• Language: English
• Publisher: E.A. Owell
• Release date: Feb 17, 2020
• ISBN: 9785600016118

Book preview

Library of Broken Promises

by

E.A. Owell

Chapter 1

Eliza Reid sat on the windowsill and stared out of the open window at the night-engulfed street. The air was still and cool but she could feel it reverberate with cares of the day that were dissolving into the memory of events past. At least for the night. Tomorrow will be a new day and things will not be quite the same.

Eliza breathed in deeply. The air brought freshness to her lungs. She gazed at the ocean of stars in the blue-black sky high above, and felt small, tiny.

At moments like this, she felt she was a part of something greater. It made her think of big things. They weren’t even thoughts, rather half-thoughts that brushed her mind, passing on their way somewhere else, maybe to someone else’s head. She didn’t know.

Eliza looked at the street below. Streetlamps gave it a hint of orange. One of the lampposts was encased in the crown of a willow tree, resembling a big patterned lantern.

Suddenly, a gust of wind came and tangled Eliza’s long curly hair. She closed her eyes and waited until the wind died down. That’s it. The day has just ended, swept away by the breeze. A new day will be born with sunrise.

Eliza slid off the windowsill into the room and shut the window. She looked at her desk – signs of homework in progress were scattered all over: textbooks, notebooks, sweets wrappings, pencils…

Eliza ignored the mess and went over to sit on her bed. She made herself comfy, grabbed the volume of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and continued to read. She had only recently turned twelve, but the book was too good to not read it. She’ll read it again later, when she’s older, so she’ll understand it better. But since she has discovered it now, why miss a chance?

Night is the best time to read books, Eliza always thought. It’s quiet, no one is disturbing you and you can focus on what you are reading. And it is much more interesting than reading in class.

Eliza sat with the heavy volume in her lap way into the night, until her eyes started to close on their own, completely disregarding her feeble protests. After a while she realised resistance was useless and gave in. She put the book under the bed, turned off the light, and as soon as her head touched the pillow she knew no more.

‘Eliza, honey, time to get up,’ Eliza heard a gentle voice through the veil of dream.

She opened one eye. Her mum’s face materialised from the blurriness. She smiled at Eliza her warm smile.

‘Time to get up,’ her mum repeated gently, stroking Eliza’s head.

Eliza looked at the clock - it really was time to get up. It is surprising how fast time decides to run when you’re asleep. Eliza wondered why it became so sluggish when you’re in class. Not fair.

‘Breakfast’s waiting for you. Come on, toasts won’t eat themselves,’ her mum pecked Eliza on the forehead and went out of the room.

Well, here we go. One, two, three!

Eliza pushed herself upright. It was the only way not to fall asleep again, which was something she would gladly do. But mum’s right, toasts are not known for eating themselves.

Eliza shuffled out of her room, down the stairs and along the cold corridor towards the brightly lit kitchen. Her whole family had already gathered there.

Her dad and brother were actively chewing on eggs and bacon, somehow looking fresh and ready to go. How exactly they managed to do that every morning, she had no idea. Her mum was busying around, grabbing a nibble of a toast from time to time.

‘Morning, sleeping beauty!’ Eliza’s dad beamed at her.

Her older brother mumbled something cheerfully with a full mouth.

‘Danny, don’t talk with your mouth full,’ remarked Mrs Reid.

‘Morning everyone,’ croaked Eliza, taking a seat.

Soon enough she joined the morning symphony of chewing faces. Her favourite toasts with cherry jam made her feel a little more alive, while the tea warmed her up. Suddenly, the world was no longer that bleak and hazy.

‘Alright, we’ve got to go,’ said Mr Reid, finishing his orange juice and looking at his watch. ‘Don’t want to be late.’

He kissed Mrs Reid and Eliza, and turned to Danny, ‘Oi, mister, someone’s got training waiting. Chop-chop!’

Danny crammed his last toast in his mouth and ran after his dad, mumbling something loudly (‘See you!’ Eliza thought) as he waved to his mum and sister.

‘Don’t talk with your mouth full!’ called Mrs Reid after him, shaking her head in amused disapproval.

‘How come Danny doesn’t get to go to school?’ complained Eliza again, jealous.

‘Honey, you know he’s got his swimming competition coming up next week, he needs to get ready. Besides, he’s only skipping school this week and he still needs to hand in all the homework. That’s quite a lot of pressure, you know, and he’s only a year older than you.’

‘I should be a swimmer, too,’ Eliza sighed, finishing her toast.

‘You don’t like water,’ her mum smiled.

‘I know, but it’s still better than school.’

‘Oh, honey, it’ll be fine,’ said Mrs Reid, cleaning the table.

After the usual morning routine of brushing her teeth and getting dressed, Eliza was ready to go.

‘Bye, mum!’

‘See you later, honey. Have a good day!’

‘I’ll try,’ Eliza muttered to herself and left the house.

It was getting light outside. The air was crisp and fresh as it usually is in the early autumn. Sun rays pierced the sky, blinding but not giving the warmth they used to in the summer. It was a wonderful kind of morning that promises a great day ahead. That cheered Eliza up even more than the toasts.

She started her way to school – fifteen minutes of bliss in this glorious sunshine, before her day gets lost in classes.

It’s not fair that you have to waste your time in class while you could enjoy this weather outside. Should she skip school? Perhaps, not. It isn’t the right thing to do. And mum will get upset. Eliza sighed and kept walking.

She went along Underwood Street and was about to turn round the corner when she glanced to her right and something caught her eye. She saw a sign of a bookshop. It was an old-fashioned wooden plaque, reddish, worn out and quite small. It said ‘Gregory’s Books’.

That’s it. This day was too good to sit it away at school. Eliza adored bookshops, always had, as long as she could remember. And now was a perfect opportunity to spend some quality time in one.

And so Eliza’s feet turned right, instead of turning left, and brought her all the way down the narrow street to the bookshop.

She approached the window and peered inside – the place looked quite small because of all the bookcases it housed within, tightly packed with all kinds of books. Now that’s a place to be, she thought, and decisively opened the door.

Eliza appeared inside the small shop, with dust floating in the sun rays beaming inside through two large windows. Weirdly enough, the books did not look dusty at all. Eliza looked around – the shop was empty.

She walked slowly along rows of books: novels, short stories, fairy tales, fantasy sagas, detective stories. She was making her way forward, taking turns between the bookcases, gazing at the volumes lined up by her sides.

Suddenly, Eliza spotted something on the far wood-panelled wall in the back of the shop. She noticed a symbol on the wall but could not see what it was exactly.

She approached the wall and took a closer look: the symbol was an open book, carved in the wood panels. She even thought she could make out the outlines of a door in the wall, only there was no doorknob or handle. Eliza wondered what the room behind the door might be when she heard a voice.

‘Can I help you, miss?’

Eliza whizzed around. There, at the far end of the aisle, stood a man, looking at her expectantly.

‘Er, yes. I mean, no. I mean, I’m just browsing, thank you,’ said Eliza, as she began to move back to the front section of the shop, embarrassed, although she couldn’t say why. She didn’t do anything.

She came closer to the man and now could clearly see him.

It was a middle-aged man, not particularly tall, with silver-stroked hair and kind hazel eyes, much lighter than Eliza’s dark brown eyes. He had a slightly crooked, warm smile. He was dressed in dark trousers, white shirt and dark waistcoat. He also wore glasses.

‘Have you found anything to your liking?’ the man asked.

‘Ahm, not really. I mean, I wasn’t looking for anything particular. I was just having a look-around,’ said Eliza. ‘It’s quite a nice bookshop.’

‘Well, thank you very much, young lady. We don’t often get young readers like yourself, especially at this hour,’ said the man with a knowing grin.

It took Eliza several moments to realise he was talking about her skipping school. She flushed and looked at her feet, trying to think of an excuse.

‘No need to worry, I can keep a secret,’ suddenly said the man and winked at Eliza.

For some reason, that made all Eliza’s embarrassment and awkwardness go away. Somehow, she knew this man could really keep secrets. She had a good feeling about him. But he still was a stranger.

‘Thank you, Mister…’ she realised she didn’t know the man’s name.

‘Wood. Gregory Wood.’

‘Thank you, Mister Wood… Hey, your name is on the sign outside,’ it dawned on Eliza. ‘Gregory’s Books’!

‘Quite right, young lady, quite right. And what would your name be, if I may ask?’

‘Eliza, Eliza Reid.’

‘Pleasure to meet you, Eliza Reid. Now, are you sure I can’t help you with anything?’

If you could make school stop, then you could help me a lot,