Prudencia Prim has always prided herself on her orderly mind. A librarian with several advanced degrees, she has made a career out of organizing both thoughts and texts. But when she takes a position as a private librarian in the French village of San Ireneo de Arnois, she encounters a group of eccentric townspeople who challenge her views on literature, religion and even love.
Adjusting to her new situation, Miss Prim (who lives up to both her names) finds herself in a constant state of confusion. Her employer (known only as the Man in the Wingchair) and his fellow townspeople are kind and hospitable, but Miss Prim is nonplussed by her employer's penchant for teaching his pupils Virgil and spending time with monks, and mortified when the ladies of the village calmly offer to find her a husband.
San Ireneo is a modern-day utopia of sorts, a colony of voluntary exiles who have withdrawn from the modern bustle to build a quiet, intellectual communal life. Although Miss Prim (nor, likely, readers) doesn't entirely agree with the village's mores, watching her puzzle over each new idea is both enlightening and amusing. Her conversations with her employer's mother and the gradual revelation of his family history add depth to the man's character and make the novel's conclusion more satisfying.
As light and sweet as the homemade pastries that feature prominently in its pages, The Awakening of Miss Prim is a charming fable about the beauty of changing one's mind. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams