Interview with Holly Bellingham of ‘Byron and the Bard’, Lavenham

Image Courtesy of Byron & The Bard

How and why did you choose to become a bookseller?

I think like most things in life, a series of happy accidents. Having moved here 25 years ago, I thought that it was a crying shame that they didn’t have a ‘new book’ bookshop. Lavenham was the sort of place that was just crying out for one. 

It’s not necessarily the most practical bookshop in the world. It’s not on what people quaintly call Lavenham’s miracle mile. There’s the high street for shops and people do have to find us as we are round the corner. But if it was a bigger, more conventional space, I don’t think that the bookshop would be as much fun. We are always determined that young people feel very welcome in here. It’s welcome to advanced readers and readers who are true youngies, or some lovely old ladies or gentlemen who pop in during the week, particularly during the winter, and have a chat with Gemma and probably buy one paperback. Bookshops are part of a community, they are not just selling things, and I think that’s something that we realised early on 

It sounds like a fine balance. On the one side you see yourself as part of the community. On the other side -- it is a business. 

Like any other business, at the end of the year, particularly at the end of year 2, we have to prove that we are viable. It has been 2 years in October, and it has gone quickly. You live and learn. We do well with books that people find when they are browsing. Having said that, we have become a magnet for Terry Pratchett fans. He is one of England’s greatest authors and I love a bit of parody. 

What I like about this shop is how welcoming it is, and children would happily come in here. 

Yes, they come in and run upstairs and play on the typewriter. We have won adult customers who have been dragged in by their children. We have noticed that the children who do best here are reluctant readers or very advanced readers. They are around 9 or 10 and have read the Percy Jackson novels or one of the Harry Potter books and mum or dad are looking for other books. 

What would you take to bed? What is on your bedside table right now?

My reading habits have changed. Because I spend my evenings going through critiques of books, new titles, reading precis and pre-proof copies, I am likely to go to bed with an old friend. I do find myself picking up the classics that I haven’t read for 40 years. When stress levels reach a certain point, it’s back to Terry Pratchett!

You’re clearly a fan!

I am. Like Shakespeare and Dickens, there is not much that goes on in the world that has escaped his eye. There’s been a lot of talk about one of his books, Monstrous Regiments, because of issues regarding gender and gender equality, so that is quite interesting. 

What do you wish you didn’t have to do? What do you not like about running a bookshop?

I would think that it is the same as with running another business, particularly in its first couple of years -- cash flow. Getting your head round that fact -- I was as green as the grass -- I didn’t necessarily know the peaks and troughs of publishing and just how skewed it is towards the back of the year. A lot of psychology comes into it. 

What was your relationship with books like when you were a child?

That’s an interesting question. I wasn’t the quickest child to work the code out. Once you’ve worked the code out, it’s fine. Once I did start reading, you couldn’t stop me, I was an absolute bookworm. One that I always recommend is Nevil Shute’s A Town Like Alice. It was a book that I was given when I was about 14, and I can genuinely say that it probably changed my life forever, because of the way that it made me see women. 

Do you read children’s books now?

Yes. Obviously, I read all the Harry Potter books and Philip Pullman. I haven’t read the Percy Jackson series but I read the odd one that comes through. We tend to be quite pedantic about the picture books that we sell. We only sell those when we feel that they hit the right mark, quality-wise, both in terms of the words and the pictures. We find that they like the beautifully illustrated ones, not the very sort of cartoony ones. There are a couple of local authors, a guy called Rob Parker, he and his wife have illustrated a couple of books. The illustrations are gorgeous. Children’s literature is difficult because it so depends on the development of the child. 

You were once involved in football.

I was a director of Ipswich Football Club. 

The first woman?

There were only six of us in the country at that point. 

Please tell me more about this.

Just because I was known to be reasonably successful in business. The Club had gone into administration, and the Club needed some help with good old-fashioned business things. I wasn’t brought in for my expertise on what field we were going to put out on a Saturday. 

So you have not got any particular interest or fascination for football.

I am very fond of Ipswich, and I enjoy football. My favourite sport is cricket. It’s very difficult to sell cricket books. Bane of my life (laughs). Much more successful in sales of aviation and military history, strangely enough. Another quiet passion, as is Tudor history. 

The next ambition is to open another bookshop. I would do that in the City of London. Money notwithstanding, and getting Gemma to be in two places at once, then I would love to have a bookshop in Leadenhall Market, in EC3. I’d call that one ‘Pickle and Peeps’. 

What is the future of bookshops?

It’s a passion. I do believe in the medium to long term it is a viable business, but you are never going to make lots of money. It’s always going to be a bit of a squish and a squeeze. If you are asking me philosophically, I am very optimistic. Every day is different, and people ask lots of lovely questions -- strange questions. 

What is your desert island book? 

Not one. Without a doubt it would be Discworld. After 41 volumes, I would go back to the beginning. I would be perfectly happy with that, thank you. 

Alison Caldow