Wave of Nostalgia
August's Bookshop of the Month is Wave of Nostalgia, an independent shop located in Haworth, West Yorkshire. The shop specialises in women's writing across fiction and non fiction, nature and the environment. We chatted to the owner, Diane, about why she opened the shop, its 'strong women' theme and what it's like to run a bookshop in Brontë country.
1. Your shop is themed on ‘strong-women’. Tell us your vision behind establishing Wave of Nostalgia.
It was a dream I had from being a young child, running a shop, finding the right gift for a customer, helping fulfil their needs.
I began 10 years ago selling vintage items, sewing clothes and repurposing preloved china and furniture on market stalls and visiting vintage fairs. Finding premises in Haworth, where the Brontë sisters grew up, fed straight into my vision of a themed strong-women shop as many literary people visit the parsonage where Wuthering Heights, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Jane Eyre were written. I curate all the books sold at Wave of Nostalgia, focusing on suffragettes, feminism, Brontës, women accused of witchcraft, women’s health, LGBTQ+ and conservation. If I don’t love the book it doesn’t get into the shop. The vision seems to be working as customers return to ask for more recommendations and that is just brilliant!
2. What is it like running a bookshop in Haworth, home of the Brontës?
Having a shop on the Main Street of Haworth amongst over 40 independent shops, looking out over the moors with the changing weather, so close to the Brontës home is a delight. We not only have visitors from the UK but from all over the world and also enjoy strong local customer support. We have a team of four part time fun-loving, hardworking staff. We welcome and chat to each and every customer and are there to help them navigate the shop. Even though it is small it is packed with interesting, informative fiction and non-fiction. Though it’s said ‘You should never judge a book by its cover’, we love stocking beautiful books especially Independent Special Editions with sprayed edges and signed by the author. They look great displayed on vintage tables and shelves. Every inch of space is used to its full potential.
3. The shop is a hive of activity, from bookselling to clothes-making – what is your favourite part of the day?
Opening in the morning is always such a pleasure, looking out at the other shops, and prepping for the day. But the most brilliant part of the day, it could even be the whole day, is meeting and learning from the inspiring customers who visit pass through the shop.
4. If you could recommend one book published in the past year, what would it be?
The Square of Seven by Laura Shepherd-Robinson, a historical drama with so many twists and turns, it will keep you guessing to the very end.
5. And last, but not least, do you have any exciting plans for the shop in the coming months that you would like to share with us?
Last year we opened up our barrel-vaulted cellar as an event space to hold poetry evenings. It was such a success that we began to hold book signings … they then expanded further and we used the café next door for medium-sized events of about fifty and have even used the lovely Baptist Centre to accommodate crowds of over a hundred. We now plan to get involved in developing a Haworth Festival next year as a warm up to Bradford City of Culture 2025, to help bring more people to Haworth not only for the literature but for the landscape, enriching not only the visitors but the local community.