44 pages • 1 hour read
Laurie GilmoreThe Cinnamon Bun Book Store
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Books and Stories
Books and stories play a critical part in The Cinnamon Bun Book Store and often symbolize the things that are most important to Hazel and Noah. Hazel’s life is made up of books, from her job at the bookstore to her passion for reading. The opening lines of the novel make clear that sees an underlying irony in her relationship with books: “Hazel Kelly loved a good story. She just didn’t have any of her own” (9). Though she loves the adventure and excitement found in books, she sees her own life as lacking these qualities. Hazel isn’t convinced she needs to have some fun with her life and go on an adventure until she reads about it in a book. The fact that all the clues that lead her on adventures are found in quotes from books highlights just how important books are to Hazel. When comparing herself to the stories she reads, Hazel understands that she needs to make a change.
Noah enjoys books too, though he is not a lifelong, passionate reader like Hazel. In the months leading up to the start of the novel, Noah has been going to the bookstore to get recommendations from Hazel at first for the sole purpose of seeing her. Yet as he buys more and more books, Noah realizes that they help to soothe his turbulent mind. Noah becomes genuinely interested in the stories they tell, and even more interested in Hazel’s passion for stories, noticing how “[s]he never seemed self-conscious when she was extolling the virtues of her latest read with the inhabitants of Dream Harbor” (110). Noah and Hazel’s relationship begins with books and grows as they follow the clues within them. Ultimately, Hazel is content with her life and the adventures she will go on because “she knew her life with Noah would be filled with good stories” (241).
The Fisherman’s Cottages
In the early months of his time in Dream Harbor, Noah comes across a few run-down cottages on the harbor that used to be inhabited by local fishermen. He restores one of these cottages and has the idea to do the same for the others, turning them into lucrative vacation rentals. Initially, however, Noah is too insecure about his own abilities to follow through on this dream and won’t even mention it to others for fear of being ridiculed. In this way, the fisherman’s cottages symbolize the unfulfilled dreams that Noah harbors but lacks the confidence to realize. After dropping out of high school and abandoning his family business, Noah became convinced that he couldn’t do anything serious, whether a business or a relationship. Noah often downplays his intelligence and capabilities, leading others to doubt him as he doubts himself. The fisherman’s cottages are the most tangible example of the many things Noah’s insecurities prevent him from doing. As soon as Noah’s confidence is boosted in his relationship with Hazel, he finally begins to consider bringing up his idea for the vacation rentals to a town meeting. Yet as soon as his confidence is dashed in other ways, he is reminded of his fears for the cottages and decides not to put more effort into it. Noah is ultimately persuaded to begin work on the cottages because he believes it will help him prove his worth to Hazel. When she finally persuades him that he is already enough for her, he completes the project with her help, finally able to do something for his own satisfaction rather than to prove himself to others.
The Change of Seasons
The Cinnamon Bun Book Store takes place in August and September as the seasons transition from summer to fall. This change in the seasons symbolizes a change in the characters and their relationships and a new beginning for Hazel and Noah. Additionally, Hazel and Noah are often compared to fall and summer respectively. Whereas Hazel identifies herself with the coziness of fall, Noah is all about adventure and taking risks, which he associates with his favorite season, summer. As the seasons change, Hazel and Noah’s relationship deepens, and their summer and fall personalities begin to blend. Laurie Gilmore writes, “He was summer and she was fall. He was adventure and she was comfort. But right now, on the cusp between the two seasons, in this liminal space they’d carved out for themselves, they fit just right” (148), emphasizing their connections to the seasons. By the end of the novel, Hazel and Noah learn to embrace their differences but fit together like the seasons that symbolize them.
