Join us to celebrate Independent Bookshop Week with a funny, honest and heartwarming account of what it’s really like to run an indie bookshop in the North West of England.

Venue: The Bees Kitchen, Primrose Gardens, Fleet St, Chorley PR7 2EE

Date & Time: Monday 15th June, 2pm-3pm

Tickets:

Book & Cream Tea (tea and scone with jam & clotted cream) £26

Cream Tea only £12 (includes £5 off book voucher, redeemable on the day)

PLEASE LET US KNOW OF ANY ALLERGIES OR DIETARY REQUIREMENTS ON BOOKING

Many of us dream of owning a bookshop but for Katie Clapham it happened by accident, when she moved back to the seaside town she grew up in and went into business with her mum.

Once a week, Katie sits behind the counter and chronicles the day’s comings and goings – mostly people who were actually hoping to catch her mother. The triumphs here are small but hard-won: a tea crisis averted, a book title correctly identified from a cryptic clutch of clues. Not to mention the emotional rollercoaster of being named the 7th Best Bookshop in the Country by The Times in a week where daily takings came to around £16.98.

Customers appear for a browse and a chat, in search of a recommendation or the perfect gift. Others enter the shop for more unexpected reasons – to borrow a screwdriver, locate a priest or simply to ask if there’s ‘a nice place for an omelette around here’. Each day brings its own joys and frustrations, though not always in equal measure . . .

Funny, surprising and affectionate, here is a bookseller’s year in all its weirdness and wonder – a life-affirming celebration of bad weather, good books and the irreplaceable role of a local bookshop.

A year in the life of an independent bookseller at a small family bookshop in a fading seaside town, for fans of Nina Stibbe.

About the author

Katie Clapham is the co-founder, with her mother, of independent bookshop Storytellers, Inc. She was named a Bookseller Rising Star in 2011 and Young Bookseller of the Year in 2012, and Storytellers, Inc. has been nominated for Bookseller industry awards seven times. Katie is also the author of several books for children and young adults. She lives in Lytham St. Annes with her family.