Based in a Scottish Borders village, Mainstreet celebrates its 10th birthday this year. Co-owner Rosamund de la Hey and assistant manager Vivian Bannerman run the book side of the business. “St Boswells is in a completely beautiful, quite hidden, part of the world, equidistant between Newcastle and Edinburgh, with a population of under 800 people. Our bookshop van is our way of getting authors into schools in this rural area,” says De La Hey. “We want to introduce every child in the Borders to a real-life author and to the bookshop within their school life. The bookshop stocks over 8,000 titles with an extensive children’s section including ‘book burrows’, beautiful dens where children can listen to audio books. The events programme has welcomed writers including Michael Morpurgo, Maggie O’Farrell and Alexander McCall Smith.”
Top five sellers
•Time: A Year and a Day in the Kitchen Gill Meller
•Scotland: Her Story Rosemary Goring
•A Gathering: A Personal Anthology of Scottish Poems Edited by Alexander McCall Smith
•Ottolenghi Simple Yotam Ottolenghi
•Unfinished Palazzo: Life, Love and Art in Venice Judith Mackrell
Five recommendations
•My Absolute Darling Gabriel Tallent
“Beautiful, eviscerating writing – perfect for those who loved A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara.”
•The Tidal Zone Sarah Moss
“Staggeringly insightful about family love – Sarah Moss’s writing is honest and tender, just gorgeous.”
•Where the World Ends Geraldine McCaughrean
“This brilliant crossover YA fiction won a 2018 CILIP Carnegie medal and is set on an isolated Scottish island. A wonderful book.”
•Normal People Sally Rooney
“Rooney’s second novel is an edgy, sharp coming-of-age story told with a brilliantly original voice.”
•The Skylark’s War Hilary McKay
“Poignant, funny evocation of one family growing up through the horrors of the first world war, with delicious shades of Edith Nesbit and early feminism.”
The Mainstreet Trading Company, Main Street, St Boswells, Scottish Borders, TD6 0AT; mainstreetbooks.co.uk
