The Understory

by Nadia Okafor

A quiet novel about a botanist who inherits her mother's overgrown garden and slowly learns to read it. We finished it in one sitting and pressed it on the next four people through the door.

Recommended by Priya, who runs the fiction wall

Reserve a copy

The shelves

Fiction412 titles Nonfiction286 titles Poetry94 titles Childrens148 titles SecondhandAlways changing

On the front table

Six books we are handing to people this week, chosen by the people who shelve them.

The Understory

Nadia Okafor

18.00

Salt Roads

Idris Vann

16.50

A Field Guide to Doubt

Marisol Reyes

14.00

Small Hours

June Halloran

12.00

The Weather in the Room

Theo Marsh

19.00

Notes on a Slow Town

Clara Boelter

15.50

Author evenings

Come and hear a writer read.

Most evenings are free and start at seven. We put out chairs, pour something, and the till stays open late. A few places, so tell us you are coming.

Thu 18 SepNadia Okafor readsReserveThe author of The Understory on gardens, grief, and writing a novel one plant at a time.

Wed 24 SepPoetry open shelfReserveBring one poem, yours or a stranger's, and read it aloud. Ten minutes each, warm room.

Fri 03 OctIdris Vann in conversationReserveSalt Roads and the long walk that made it, in conversation with our own Priya.

Sat 11 OctChildrens story hourReserveA morning for small readers. Cushions, picture books, and a very patient reader.

A book is a place to be for a while, and a good shop is the doorway.

Something we tell people at the counter

The Margin Note

A short letter, twice a month. What we are reading, who is coming to read, and the odd book we cannot stop talking about.

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