MUCH ADO BOOKS IN ALFRISTON
On our way to stay in Lewes last Saturday we took a diversion and went to the idyllic Sussex village of Alfriston. The purpose of our visit was to see the Clergy House, the first ever National Trust property but we happened to spot a superb bookshop, Much Ado Books, in the village.
We had lunched very well in a local restaurant, Moonrakers, and were in a relaxed mood with the result that Mrs Crime Scraps arrived at the payment point with a huge pile of books. I, of course, was more circumspect and resisted any purchases until I spotted a favourite book I had previously lost somewhere in our various moves.
My original copy of The King's Depart: The Tragedy of Germany:Versailles and the German Revolution by Richard M. Watt was a paperback and had almost disintegrated therefore I was very grateful to find and buy a hardback copy for only £5.00. This book is a treasure trove of information and quotations about once of the decisive periods in world history, a time of missed opportunities.
The very pleasant and friendly bookshop owners, Cate Olson and Nash Robbins, told us they were from Boston, plied us with lavender shortbread, and gave us a neat hessian bag to carry away our purchases. Great service.
Their website can be visited here.
posted by Uriah Robinson at 12:21 PM
4 Comments:
sounds perfect. One of the things I miss here is these kind of small bookshops - we just don't the population numbers to support it.
These independent bookshops are becoming fewer and fewer here as well Bernadette. Alfriston is close to fairly large population centres and the universities near Brighton yet it is an idyllic "Miss Marple" type village. The next day we drove through the beautiful Ashdown Forest into the suburbs of London and it was nice to know that we still have green spaces so close to the metropolis.
Our route took us past places that brought back visions of past British glories; Quebec House, Chartwell, Biggin Hill as well as avoiding most of the traffic until we reached Bromley.
I am glad to hear you have also had a good time.
I think I am like Mrs Crime Scraps: not much restraint when I find a good book shop. In my own defence I must say that I only bought second hand books. There is no need to pay for new ones as I have thousands of British crime novels to catch up with, is there? Not so good for the authors, but good for Oxfam, I hope.
Dorte, our purchases were also second hand especially as I too have a few crime fiction books to catch up on.
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