Do you like prowling used bookstore shelves for hidden treasures? Sixpence House is the book for you. It was a complete enjoyment and for me, a thrill to discover Hay-On-Wye, a real-life town of books with 1500 residents and 41 antiquarian and used bookshops.
This is a memoir of Paul Collins, a writer who decides to move his wife Jennifer and son Morgan to Hay-On-Wye, staying in a local B&B while looking for a house to buy.
Paul's area of expertise is 18th and 19th century American literature, and some would say he has too many books already, waist deep in some rooms. I had an immediate attraction to Paul (though 'too many books' is not possible) so he is already my kindred brother as he arrives in London for the 100th birthday of the Queen Mum. I was in London then as well - and passed him on the street, possibly.
Sixpence is ostensibly about finding a home in Hay-On-Wye, but also about life in England with the odd schedules of closing shops midday, sweet Ribena and chocolate Flake, the decline in reading in general and the sad disintegration of aging books, cottages with slanted hardwood floors and leaning walls - damp basements weeping water and sometimes ancient caveats on the property, proofreading his first book for publication, the local book seller community, and Mr. Booth - owner of the dilapidated castle and warehouse of estate sale books shipped over from America.
He frequents Booth's bookstore and gets hired on to arrange the American Lit section, amongst the piles of recently arrived and/or long neglected boxes of unopened books, finding rare treasures and unsellable junk. His offhand descriptions of the room filled with 1950's science fiction, and the pile of unsorted books in the backyard covered with a tarp containing books such as Agatha Christie hardcovers, made me yearn to be there and have the chance to dig up my own discoveries.
The thing that makes Sixpence such an enjoyable read was his writing. It's so much more, and better than my perceived 'visit to Wales' expectations. He often begins a story about the town, only to digress into a history of British culinary habits, then monetary history, then local railway, which then reminds him of an 18th century book about travel, complete with the inclusion of many passages from these hard to find and out of print authors. He jumps around a lot, but it gave me the feeling of being in a used bookstore itself - the characters, the variety of stories, and the history. You never know what adventures you will go on, or what stories you will find from one book shelf to the next. Paul has a voracious knowledge and it was so entertaining to be around someone who appreciates reading, and the value of books considered long forgotten. I read a lot of 1930's and 40's authors and the enjoyment of them is often added to by the thought I am maintaining them for history.
I think I have a lot in common with Paul, including he lives in Portland now (giving him extra points as I love that city and wandering the shelves of Powell's Books), and I was fascinated by his wide range of interests - as I love to know a little about a lot.
Sixpence House was such a treat to read. I loved it and highly recommend it to readers and book lovers. I've just purchased another of his books, and one day - perhaps - a trip to Hay-On-Wye.
2003 / Hardcover / 246 pages
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