Books

Pages of Hackney

Kate Weston | Thursday 29 September, 2011 14:17

Hidden behind a dusty sky blue facade, Pages Of Hackney is a compact space packed to the brim with brilliant carefully selected books, friendly, passionate staff and a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

Upstairs offers literary fiction, local history, cookery, philosophy and more, while downstairs offers that little bit extra to your shopping experience. With a gallery/events space you can: see some art, participate in self-help and natural healing workshops, enjoy some spoken word, take the kids after school for story telling, and attend a book launch, as well as the usual author events.

It’s not just the current function of the space that’s of interest ether. The shop has a somewhat troubled and fascinating history:

“We opened back in September 2008 on the premesis of an old post office. The place closed down 13 years before that after a robbery in which the post master was killed,” tells Eleanor Lowenthal, the shop’s owner.

For those of you struggling to find out of print books, Pages of Hackney may just be the place to do it for you: “We’ll spend considerable amounts of time tracking down hard to find out of print books for our customers for very little financial reward, but we think this is an important part of who we are.”

This extra service combined with Eleanor’s reasons for opening the shop in the first place makes this bookshop more about customers and the community than just selling books.

“I wanted to open it because I’d lived in Hackney for years and thought we needed a bookshop. For me, the business has always been as much about Hackney as it has about books. To that end, we’ve been shortlisted twice for best bookshop and won best new Hackney business in 2010.”

Not just a bookshop, but a place to spend time, learn new skills and be inspired. Pages of Hackney is a must visit for book and art lovers alike.

Pages of Hackney

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