The Bookshop of Panama by Suzanne Hope

Author:Suzanne Hope
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Book Guild
Published: 2019-04-10T00:00:00+00:00

“I used to be a lecturer at Columbia University here in New York, but after 25 years I’d had enough. I was looking for something new to do and my retirement was coming up, then, well I had a huge collection of books at home. It was becoming a nightmare – I didn’t have a big enough flat – I was running out of space, so I decided to open up a bookshop.”

By now we’ve moved to sit at a table in a scruffy box of a room where Megan has a tiny office, nothing more really than a kettle, a microwave and a little desk with a computer but I’m fascinated. We’re drinking jasmine tea together and she’s just opened up a packet of rich chunky chocolate chip cookies. They melt in the mouth and I can’t help wondering where Megan puts all the calories eating these. She looks so slim. I’m also wondering how she manages to move around those big boxes of books which are blocking a lot of the aisles. Megan takes another two bites and I wait patiently. She’s in no hurry, munching on the cookie and then continues.

“I’d had the idea for a few years and kept looking for a shop, then I heard that this one was for sale. The previous owner had a heart attack poor thing and his wife was selling the business, books and all. So, I jumped at the chance. My flat is just a few blocks from here you see. I’d been left a good inheritance when my mother died so I used that to buy the shop. To be honest, I was pretty lucky with the price I paid for the place. The wife wanted a quick sale. She told me she’d never understood her husband’s fascination with the place and was glad to be rid of it. The shop and stock had been neglected when I finally took it over. Infested with mice too! Anyway, I got rid of the mice and added some of my books to the shelves. Even so, I still felt like it needed more, there were a lot of books missing, so I went around New Jersey to garage sales, visited friends, contacts, book buying fairs – wherever, to build up the right kind of stock. As you can see, I probably went a bit too far.” She chuckles to herself topping up our mugs with more steaming tea from the pot.

“Can I ask you a personal question?” I ask tentatively.

“Go right ahead my dear,” she says munching on a cookie, looking at me intently over the red glasses perched on the end of her nose.

“Do you make a living out of it?” I ask, quickly adding, “Sorry, maybe it’s a bit rude to ask you but I’m interested to know how the figures add up. As I said, I’ve always had a dream of opening up my own shop and it would be great to get some kind of idea as to if I could make a living off this type of business.

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