for at least twenty years now i've had the pleasure of browsing books (and budget permitting, making the occasional purchase) at the delightful Matilda Bookshop. the location has changed from time to time, but for about twenty-five years Matilda's was run with style, dignity and grace by Nynke. from time to time i would discover an obscure title and decide it was a must have; Nynke would move heaven and earth and with only one exception (an obscure Russian history of feltmaking) find it.
last week i swung by and found the bookstore had changed hands. Nynke had intimated that times might be changing but it was strange feeling to wander in and see a new figure behind the desk. without Nynke's charming collection of ephemera, something one didn't really notice at the time but misses later, it felt strangely folorn.
wandering on i felt a small warm glow as i espied my book Ecocolour in the window alongside the latest offering from that most readable of Scottish writers, Alexander McCall Smith.
What a thrill seeing your book in the window! Change is not always comfortable but the new owner obviously has taste. It looks like the dearest little bookshop with the reflection of red brick houses in the window.
ReplyDeleteit is a delightful store...the nicest location they once had was in the next village, down by a babbling brook and over a creek, with a cosy couch in the window; the current one is in the village of Stirling, in the Mount Lofty Ranges of South Australia. outide it is shaded by an allee of 'Liquidambar styraciflua' trees that were planted by a community group in the mid 70s...I too was a willing helper (though in my early teens) and still fondly visit the tree i planted all those years ago.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for my copy India. I am just writing up my notes now for this year and wish I had my book so I could check my information. And now reading your comment to Robyn, I wish I could plant trees with my kids and then visit them later.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for my copy India. I am just writing up my notes now for this year and wish I had my book so I could check my information. And now reading your comment to Robyn, I wish I could plant trees with my kids and then visit them later.
ReplyDelete