In the late 1950s, my two maiden aunts opened a bookshop on a corner of Broad Street in Waterford, near the Savoy cinema. My aunts, on whose behalf the bookshop had been set up by two of their brothers, were quiet, reserved ladies in early middle age. My aunts had no experience in retail, books or otherwise, and I had never seen either of them reading. Part-time assistantI was 10 years old when I became a part-time assistant, during school holidays, in Waterford Books. In this light, my aunts’ commitment to a new bookshop, a vector for sensual indulgences, can be seen as heroic.

Source: The Irish Times June 22, 2020 03:45 UTC