When a single dad arrives in town, a bookstore owner may have a chance to start a new chapter in her life . . . Jessie Tempest has two main interests: reading books and selling books. Her little bookshop in an English seaside town is a cozy hideaway from the chilly Yorkshire wind, but it’s also Jessie’s sanctuary from the outside world. When writer Miles Fareham and his son Elijah arrive to stay in the rental apartment above the shop, it’s a test for Jessie, who has always felt clueless when it comes to kids. But as she learns the story of the single father and the inquisitive eight-year-old, Jessie realizes that first impressions aren’t always the right ones—and, of course, you can never judge a book by its cover . . .
An enterprising single mom is about to discover that sometimes the best things start in the strangest ways. . . . On a night out in Edinburgh, single mom Liza-Belle Graham finds herself revealing her hopes and dreams to a green-eyed stranger. Liza always wanted to run an “arty-crafty-booky” business, and she’s seen the perfect empty shop to make her dreams a reality. No harm in telling the stranger. It’s not like she’ll see him again . . . But Scott McCreadie is no mystery man—he’s an interior designer looking for new premises. And who does Liza bump into when she arranges a viewing? None other than Scott trying to steal her perfect shop! Is Liza’s arty-crafty-booky dream in jeopardy, or is a new dream about to begin? Find out in this delightful romantic comedy featuring a very unusual cat named Schubert . . .
How far would you go to be with the one you love at Christmas? A heartwarming holiday romance set in contemporary Scotland! Scotland’s Isle of Skye is a magical place, especially at Christmas, and there’s no place Zac Fallon would rather be. But while Zac has everything he needs on Skye, there’s still something missing—and that something is a somebody called Ivy McFarlane. Ivy used to work with Zac, but then spread her wings and moved to Glastonbury. He’s missed her ever since. Now it’s almost Christmas and Zac realizes that the Ivy-shaped hole in his life is too big to bear. So starts his festive mission to the mainland—but will he be back in time to spend Christmas in Skye? And, more importantly, will Ivy be with him?
The trade in books has always been and remains an ambiguous commercial activity, associated as it is with literature and the exchange of ideas. This collection is concerned with the cultural and economic roles of independent bookstores, and it considers how eight shops founded during the modernist era provided distinctive spaces of literary production that exceeded and yet never escaped their commercial functions. As the contributors show, these booksellers were essential institutional players in literary networks. When the eight shops examined first opened their doors, their relevance to literary and commercial life was taken for granted. In our current context of box stores, online shopping, and ebooks, we no longer encounter the book as we did as recently as twenty years ago. By contributing to our understanding of bookshops as unique social spaces on the thresholds of commerce and culture, this volume helps to lay the groundwork for comprehending how our relationship to books and literature has been and will be affected by the physical changes to the reading experience taking place in the twenty-first century.
'Impeccably researched and searingly nostalgic, The Bookshop, The Draper, The Candlestick Maker whisks us back to medieval days' DAILY MAIL 'The queen of food historians' LUCY WORSLEY 'A rich, lively and nostalgia-provoking sensory experience ... this is history in its messiest, most bustling human essence' THE TIMES 'Annie Gray's fascinating history of a British institution in crisis illuminates and entertains' GREG JENNER 'Properly immersive, full of juicy sensory detail - Annie Gray's romp down British high streets through the centuries is a blast' TESSA BOASE Bustling with rich detail, historical vignettes and surprising wares, this is the story of Britain's best-loved but ever-changing public spaces. What makes a high street? It's certainly not just about the shopping; these thoroughfares are often the beating heart of our towns and cities and, by extension, of the people who use them. As spaces where local life and culture unfolds, our high streets can be playgrounds of personal indulgence and community spirit, or sites of contentious debate and politicking. Historian Annie Gray takes us down the street and through the ages, from medieval marketplaces to the purpose-built concrete precincts of the twentieth century. Peeping through the windows of tailors, tearooms and grocers, we explore everything from the toyshops of yesteryear - where curiosities were sold for adults, not children - to the birth of brands we shop at today. Vibrant and enticing, The Bookshop, The Draper, The Candlestick Maker is an essential reflection on how we shopped and lived in days gone by - and what the future may bring.
But at the moment Jessie Norwood and her chum, Amy Drew, darted around from the broad boulevard into the narrow lane that led down to this poor hamlet, neither of the girls remembered “Dogtown,” as the group of huts was locally called. The real estate men who exploited Roselawn and Bonwit Boulevard as the most aristocratic suburban section of New Melford, never spoke of Dogtown...FROM THE BOOKS.
