The Back of Beyond

I can think of few images that are sadder than an almost empty bookshop.— Jorge Carrión

From Canada Day to Labour Day, I preside over a little book-filled world in the fishing village of River John, Nova Scotia. Or I did from 2017 to 2019. Then 2020 happened, and I became a bookselling enthusiast who desperately missed the smell of cardboard boxes, the crackle of packing paper, the snapping of bubble wrap, the inhaling of ink. I missed the UPS man and Linda Little — friend, author, sidekick, shop­girl. Instead of that every-day-is-better-than-Christmas-morning feeling, a never-ending yawn of ho‑hum sameness settled in. With a spiky-headed virus in our midst, I no longer held and gently opened each new book, sneak peeking into heavy boxes before we unpacked them onto the floor. Instead, I experienced the lost joy of my best friends — the books, I mean — who would always call my name as they claimed their places...