A probation officer, Cathy Madden, is tasked with rehabilitating a notorious killer named 'Bloody' Mary Laidlaw back into society following a two-decade sentence.

Based on Penelope Fitzgerald's novel of the same name; 'The Bookshop' is set in 1959, Florence Green (Emily Mortimer), a free spirited widow, puts grief behind her and risks everything to open up a bookshop - the first such shop in the sleepy seaside town of Hardborough, England. Fighting damp, cold and considerable local apathy she struggles to establish herself but soon her fortunes change for the better. By exposing the narrow minded local townsfolk to the best literature of the day including...