Latest news with #bookshop
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
For nine years my married lover promised she'd leave her husband and child for me... what happened next destroyed my life, says MAX WOOLDRIDGE
It was a rainy April evening, cool and blustery, and I remember it vividly because that was the night I fell in love with a married woman. Lauren and I had been seeing each other for a few months at that point. It was 2004 and we'd arranged to meet in our usual place, a bookshop near her flat. When she hadn't appeared an hour after our designated time, I began to worry she'd decided against it.
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Fairy porn and a ‘smut hut': I visited Britain's new romance-only bookshop
The plot springs straight from a Richard Curtis film: an intrepid, single, flame-haired American abandons her high-flying life as a tech executive to open a dedicated romance bookshop in Notting Hill named Saucy Books. On the first day of business in mid-June, just as she's unlocked the door, three fire engines pull up outside to investigate a gas leak. The first man to disembark is so devastatingly attractive that our heroine asks if he'd like to venture inside for a browse. I'd love to report that this promising set-up ended with a smooch, but real-life shopkeeper, 38-year-old Sarah Maxwell, laughs and admits her Adonis was swept back to the fire station before conflagration could take place. What a shame. My script already had Maxwell selling the fireman the brand new novel Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley, ' the must-read love story of the summer ', which is prominently on display. Instead, we end up spending a lively 10 minutes discussing why firefighters are so much sexier than policemen. Maxwell says it's because police officers have an overdeveloped 'sense of their own authority, law enforcement is all about power and control.' While firemen not only risk their lives on a regular basis, 'they rescue kittens from trees'. Mind you, it's fair to say – judging from my sun-drenched afternoon at Saucy Books – that women are around 50 times more likely to seek out the shop than men. The only chap I spot there is the spouse of a visitor, although Maxwell protests she does have male customers. Her assistant, Jessica Roberts, points to the chairs on the street outside the shop and says, 'That's the man park,' where women can seat husbands and boyfriends while they shop. Girlfriends, too: a number of women customers arrive with female partners and Maxwell and Roberts are busy planning a Pride celebration when I visit. The shop is already en fête, decked out in candy pink, yellow, lilac and blue, with a yellow-striped awning billowing overhead to bestow what Maxwell summarises as a summery 'beach-hut' feel. It's all so Barbie bright, cheerful and uncluttered, that I'm slightly fazed at first, as when it comes to book shops, I am more accustomed to the Black Books vibe of an eccentric grouch cramming books on dusty shelves. But it doesn't take long for me to realise that Saucy Books is an artfully curated experience for romance aficionados, where devotees can hang out with fellow fans and get personally tailored advice from Maxwell, rather than an ordinary bookshop. Our conversation keeps breaking off, as fresh shoppers pick her brains for the latest volume of ice hockey love stories (a very popular genre, I'm told, even with UK readers). Maxwell says she's delighted to order in any volume on any topic, even Antony Beevor's Stalingrad, if a husband demands it. However, the mood remains defiantly Bridget Jones's Diary – a major influence on Maxwell – with Helen Fielding's original book displayed prominently like a totem and joined on the shelves by evergreen love expert, Jane Austen. These are just about the only authors' names I recognise, as my habitual reading (Tessa Hadley, Elizabeth Strout, Hilary Mantel) often focuses on the messy fallout from unhappy marriages, including the odd beheading. I have completely missed out on major trends such as romantasy – a genre which draws upon Tolkien's and Ursula K Le Guin's elves, wizards and dragons – but unlike their chaste storytelling, throws in lashings of pining, smooching and sex. Or, as a publisher friend puts it, 'Fairy Shades of Grey'. But Saucy Books exists to remove the blinkers from novices like me, as well as to bolster aficionados. Resistance is useless in the face of Maxwell's radiant enthusiasm; she's been a devotee of romance – or what we then called chick lit – since her teens in LA, when her family nicknamed her 'Saucy' for her sassy attitude. She used to queue for hours for book signings with British authors like Marian Keyes, Helen Fielding and Sophie Kinsella, and was known as the storyteller among her siblings. Yet she ended up doing a law degree and then working for a number of newly emerging tech companies like Uber, Spotify and Epic Games, before moving to London 10 years ago to take up an executive role at cryptocurrency company Even so, it seems she never strayed far from the values that mark a successful publishing campaign. Her LinkedIn profile states: 'My background blends product strategy, brand storytelling and creative innovation'. It's clear Saucy Books will be as active online as it is in the physical shop, setting up a book club, building a virtual community, holding events and maybe opening fresh stores, if this one is a rollicking success. Maxwell may even get to promote her own work, since it transpires she's an aspiring author, with two manuscripts on the back-burner. The first was written in her 20s and features a bereaved heroine 'who's been left the Orange County magazine in her mother's will, and has just one issue to turn around its fortunes'. The second was penned during a 2022 sabbatical, after Maxwell developed long Covid; she says it's The Devil Wears Prada, but set in tech. I point out that she appears to be living a 21st-century romance story all of her own, with her candy-bright shop that's a tonic for jaded souls – rather like Vianne Rocher's magical cocoa emporium in Joanne Harris's novel, Chocolat. All the scenario needs now is a gorgeous love interest, but when I ask Maxwell about her dating experiences in London she replies, 'It's been really mixed, nothing that stuck.' A lament that feels emblematic of a woman who started dating in the restless, digital, 'swipe right' era, when, according to a comic skit I viewed on Instagram recently, you'd prefer to hear a date had died than realise he'd chosen to ghost you. No wonder so many female readers choose to retreat to fantastical lands, where women have magic powers and men are warriors, or quite literally beasts – like the prince who's cursed to take horse's form in one of the shop's bestsellers, Behooved by M Stevenson. This means the heroine gets to ride him in every sense of the word. (Puns seem wildly popular in the new genres of romance.) Many of the books on display are best-selling romantasy, such as Onyx Storm ('think Hunger Games meets Fifty Shades ') by Rebecca Yarros, an American mother-of-six married to an army veteran who served in Afghanistan. The foreword solemnly states: 'The following text has been faithfully transcribed from Navarrian into the modern language by Jesinia Neilwart, Curator of the Scribe Quadrant at Basgiath War College'. Taking me to Miss Jean Brodie's immortal line, 'For those that like that kind of thing, that is the sort of thing they like.' And countless legions of women readers do like it – and indeed seem to live by it. Annual sales from the romantasy genre alone were predicted to hit $610m (£448m) by the end of last year, while the genre's leading light, Sarah J Maas (famed for her Throne of Glass and Court of Thorns and Roses series), has, to date, sold 75 million copies of her novels worldwide. I get it. Young people are living in dark times with endless talk of WWIII, just as the boomers and Generation X were during the Cold War. These volumes are their version of Jilly Cooper, Shirley Conran and all the wildly entertaining, escapist bonkbusters I read in my teens and early 20s. So big is the craze in the UK, that last weekend saw a Romance Readers and Reader Event, RARE25, staged at London's ExCel centre, with 400 authors attending. Judging from my visit, shoppers tend to come from a younger demographic. Many first found out about Saucy books from TikTok, or more specifically BookTok, where romance threads are legion and a coded language has evolved to rate raunchy reads, since 'sex' and associated terms can lead to censorship on the platform. Instead, books are critiqued on their 'spice' levels, with red pepper emojis liberally employed for the strongest 'fairy porn'. Maxwell even has her own 'smut' hut in the shop, decked out in Hawaiian Tiki style, where some of the stronger romance is displayed. Obviously, I headed straight there where I picked up Swift and Saddled by Lyla Sage, the torrid tale of divorced interior decorator Ada, who finds herself summoned to glam up Rebel Blue Ranch in Wyoming, encountering steer wrangler Weston Ryder in the process. For a man of few words, Wes has plenty of interior monologue: 'I trailed my hands down her back and gripped her hip for leverage as I guided myself inside her.' Maxwell protests that these novels aren't erotica, but I'd disagree. And why not? Romance exists to fulfil women's fantasies, both the writer's and the reader's. I had lively chats with young Americans, Australians and a couple of girls who'd trekked over from Highgate, but Maxwell says that there's a devoted set of older readers too. Such as the 60-something 'petite, blonde woman in leopard print leggings with bags of attitude' who travelled from Plymouth to pay pilgrimage. She also had two women in their 40s who were on the trail of mafia romance to the point one declared, 'I keep going to Italy and trying to get myself kidnapped.' This is a bookshop that's full of banter and camaraderie. It's easy to see how the genre bonds pleasure-seekers. One of my super-smart nieces confirms this, messaging me to say that when she lived in Australia during a gap year, she was part of a romance-orientated book group. She described the sense of belonging as 'a kind of collective validation that makes engaging with those books feel less stigmatised'. I felt myself wince a bit at my niece's candid comments. I have definitely been a bit snooty about the new wave of romances, when I now see they stand in a clear line from books I loved in the 1980s, like Anne Rice's eroticised Interview With a Vampire and, perhaps even more so, her unabashedly filthy Sleeping Beauty Quartet. Another bookish niece recommends the Boys of Tommen series by Chloe Walsh, for covering 'difficult topics like sexual assault, suicide and abuse', while remaining 'totally impossible to put down'. Resistance, it seems, is useless. I leave Notting Hill with every novice's favourite Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses, after another Gen Z browser told me I had to 'get with the programme' and read it. As I head off, two young women from Sydney are begging Maxwell to open a Saucy Books out there, 'We need you!' I suddenly realise who the twinkling, naughty-but-wholesome shopkeeper reminds me of: she's Mary Poppins, but her chosen 'spoonful of medicine' for deflated, crosspatch souls, is a romantic novel.
BBC News
16-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
'Country's largest independent bookshop' set to open in York
Plans to convert a historic building into "the country's largest independent bookshop" have been approved despite council officers recommending they be refused on heritage & Company has been given permission to open a 6,000 sq ft (557 sq m) store in the Grade II-listed building on the corner of Museum Street and Blake Street in were previously raised that the installation of a mezzanine floor could damage the fabric of the building and erode evidence of the its original plans were backed by York's Civic and Conservation trusts while several councillors voiced their support in bringing the building back into use. Speaking ahead of Tuesday's meeting, Conservative councillor Michael Nicholls said blocking the plans would be "a new level of bonkers" for the council, according to the Local Democracy Reporting councillor Rachel Melly, whose Guildhall ward includes the building, told councillors the company, which runs four other shops in the UK, had a track record of creating beautifully-designed bookshops in historic said: "Refusing this will only preserve the building as an empty derelict brick relic."Liberal Democrat committee member councillor Christian Vassie said the conversion would provide a way for the building to continue to be added: "If we can't afford to run it then it falls into disrepair, then we berate ourselves and look for reasons why no one is giving us money to keep this building alive while it's crumbling in front of us." Constructed in 1860, the building originally housed the headquarters of York's Poor Law Union and later served as a tourist information centre before it was vacated by Visit York four years founder Robert Topping told councillors his son Hugh planned to move to York to run the store, which he said would be "the largest independent bookshop opened in the country in living memory".Topping & Company, which has branches in Bath, Edinburgh, Ely and St Andrews, said the new store would create 30 jobs and offer 75,000 titles on its company hopes to open it in autumn. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
The Sun
15-07-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Beloved cafe is forced to close down due to rising costs leaving loyal customers ‘gutted'
ANOTHER independent cafe has been forced to close as a result of the crippling economic conditions. Bookmark in Spalding, Lincolnshire, will be serving customers for the last time at the end of this month. 1 The cafe, which also boasts its very own bookshop, broke the news to loyal visitors recently. Owner, Darren Sutton, said: "Unfortunately, due to the current economic conditions and challenges in the retail and hospitality sector together with increased labour costs, increased employers' national insurance, business rates, food and energy costs it has become increasingly difficult for stores in town centre locations to be economically viable. "So with great sadness and regret that we announce that Bookmark will be closing on Friday, July 25. 'We wish to place on record our thanks to our dedicated staff who have worked for us during our tenure of the business, our suppliers and the support shown by our customers over the years.' The website has been taken offline so remaining purchases can be made directly through the store. The company also issued a short statement on Facebook, which read: "Unfortunately, the Coffee House of Bookmark is no longer open from today. "The Bookshop will remain open until we close. Thank you to our customers for all your support!" Customers flocked to the comment section to offer their condolences and support. "Bookmark will be sorely missed by so many of us. A wonderful independent store with a great coffee shop. I did manage to come into the shop last week," one wrote. "Can't imagine it not being part of Spalding any longer," they added. A second echoed: "When I moved to Spalding over 20 years ago, I was so excited that there was an independent book shop in the town. "I have loved spending time here over the years. Absolutely gutted you are closing." A third wrote: "Oh no, gutted you're closing. I always pop in when I visit on the way to my mum's. So sorry to hear this. Hope you have fantastic adventures planned!" It's not just the small companies being forced to shut up shop. Costa Coffee has been closing branches across the country, which has been described as "a sign of the times". On June 29, the store on Whitstable High Street, Kent, closed its doors for the final time. When Costa Coffee first arrived on Whitsable High Street five years ago there was some initial disquiet. The area is fiercely proud of its reputation for independent stores and cafes. But it's the latest casualty in a string of nationwide closures by the coffee chain which were first announced last year. This included the Costa in Maidstone town centre which shut up shop in January 2024. The British Retail Consortium predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion. Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure. At the start of this year, the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down in 2025. It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year. Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: "The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025." Professor Bamfield warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector across the year. "By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer's household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020."
The Standard
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Standard
You're a TV star, Harry: Potter series to debut in 2027
A child holds a copy of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," at Waterstone's bookshop in central London 21 June, 2003 REUTERS/Sinead Lynch
