Amy Meyerson Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Amy Meyerson is a historical mystery author from Los Angeles that is best known for her bestselling debut title “The Book of Yesterdays.” Her debut was so popular that it was published in more than 11 languages. Aside from her novel-writing endeavors, she has published several of her short fiction works in literary magazines. Despite being quite the accomplished author, she still works a day job as a professor of creative writing at the University of Southern California. It is the same university where she got her degree in creative writing. She published her first novel “The Book of Yesterdays” in 2018 followed by “The Imperfects” in 2020.

The initial idea for Amy Meyerson’s debut novel “The Bookshop of Yesterdays” came to the author while she was reading an article in the New York Times Book Review. It detailed the memorable and strange objects that readers oftentimes found in second-hand novels that included everything from a piece of bacon to a used Q-tip to thousands of dollars. She was intrigued by the idea that it was possible to tell about the previous owner of the novel by what they left behind. She started thinking in terms of character reveal and remembers thinking first of Uncle Billy whose character comes out from the stories people tell and the clues that he leaves in books. She had always loved books and therefore the setting of a bookstore seemed appropriate. Once upon a time, she had read “The Tempest” and she decided to name her bookstore Prospero, which was a name she got from one of the novel’s scenes. Uncle Billy would take his second wife there as a way of building a connection with her. The bookstore itself which was a significant component of her debut novel is partly based on Echo Park, a bookstore from which Amy did a lot of her writing. Prospero Bookstore is just like her real-life bookstore as it has the feel of a used bookstore. She also spoke to several managers of used bookstores to understand the inner workings and the day to day experiences.

Amy Meyerson’s debut novel “The Bookshop of Yesterdays” is the story of Miranda who had always loved Billy her uncle ever since she was a child. On his part, he had ensured that he had very interesting and fun ideas to keep his niece busy. Since she was such an intelligent girl, he loved coming up with riddles for Miranda to solve. He also took her to his bookstore whenever he could and introduced her to all manner of literary works from the classics to children’s literature. One evening after the family had gone to bed, Miranda hears Uncle Billy and her parents arguing. It is a serious argument that changes her life even though her mother refuses to say anything about it. Soon after, her uncle moves away and she never sees him again until she receives a card in the mail sixteen years later. She has grown up to become a history teacher and learns that her uncle is no more as he was deceased. However, he had left the Prospero Bookstore to her alongside several clues that will help her understand the events of the fateful night that had forever changed their lives. It has a great mystery that will keep the reader guessing while the plot is split between Miranda’s thoughts and family dynamics. It is a creatively written story that unfolds slowly as it explores the relationship between Miranda, her boyfriend, and her mother.

“The Imperfects” by Amy Meyerson follows from the highly successful “The Bishops of Yesterdays.” It is a fascinating novel that tells of the vast inheritance that results in one family’s quest for the truth that changes them forever. The Miller family is far from perfect as Jake, Ashley, and Beck who have been estranged for years suddenly find themselves in the same house. Their matriarch dies and now they have to deal with old betrayals and resentments while trying to find answers to the mystery of the matriarch’s death. But their lives will change when they rifle through their dead relative’s’ possessions and find a 137-carat gemstone known as the “Florentine Diamond.” It had disappeared from Austria almost 100 years ago and is now an invaluable piece. Seeking to learn how such a beautiful and expensive thing came to be in their grandmother’s possession they begin an investigation. Their investigations reveal that they had known very little about their resilient and brave grandmother. As they race to try to find the real owners of the diamond and the wealth it will bring, they learned of a past more powerful and tragic than anything they could have ever imagined. What they unearth forever changes how they view their familial ties and view their heritage. It is a beautiful story inspired by the legend of the still missing Florentine Diamond that showcases how sometimes learning the truth from the past can change lives forever.