Upcoming events at Backstory
(all at 71 Balham High Road)
Wednesday 8th March, 7.30pm
The author of Maame, an exciting debut novel that sharply depicts Maddie’s sense of being torn between two worlds as she navigates flat shares, dating apps, microaggressions at work, the shock of grief, and learning how to become the woman she wants to be – one frantic Google search at a time.
Tuesday 21st March, 7pm
We can’t breathe underwater, but lots of amazing animals can. We’re so excited to welcome two thrilling storytellers to talk about how and why we can look after the ocean. Laline Paull, whose new novel Pod is an epic, tribal tale of family and home told from the perspectives of a symphony of sea creatures, in conversation with Tom Mustill, a biologist and filmmaker, who wrote How to Speak Whale after a close encounter with a whale almost killed him.
1999: Manchester United, The Treble And All That
Wednesday 29th March, 7.30pm
Award-winning sports writer Matt Dickinson talks about Manchester United’s unprecedented 1999 season with Times deputy sports editor James Restall
Wednesday 5th April, 7.30pm
One of Tom’s favourite authors, who writes so well about modern relationships and the body. Talking about her latest, Milk Teeth.
Yaba Badoe: An introduction to YA (young adult)
Tuesday 11th April, 7.30pm
Yaba Badoe is a Ghanaian-British documentary filmmaker and writer who has judged a few YA book prizes. We're going to talk about her experience writing for young adults and judging prizes in that category. Come to learn about all things YA, what it takes to build new worlds and create memorable characters.
Wednesday 26th April, 7.30pm
The Costa Book Prize-winning author of Unsettled Ground and Swimming Lessons joins us to chat all about her latest, The Memory of Animals. In the book, a pandemic is sweeping the planet. Neffy joins a vaccine trial, cut off from the outside world. The novel puts isolation and humanity under the microscope.
Team pick of the week
Rory recommends: Cursed Bread by Sophie Mackintosh
A French town is gripped by obsession, a woman poisoned with desire, and a string of strange events hang in the air. Mesmerising. - Rory
A LITTLE MORE THAN A YEAR AGO, I joined a bunch of old friends from university on a walk in the Chilterns. It was a frosty late winter’s day, enlivened by the prospect of a good pub lunch and, better still, some real gossip to chew over. Independently, my friend Jonny and I both Had Some News. He and his partner Dani were going to have a baby. And I was going to have a bookshop.
One year on, and one of us has a totally dependent tyrant that interrupts natural sleep patterns, demands constant attention, needs to be changed all the time and seems to have been around so, so much longer than five months. And Jonny and Dani have a delightful baby girl, Minerva.
Dinner at theirs on Friday evening found us all in reflective mood. I mentioned that it would be a year ago this weekend since I sent out the first edition of this newsletter, promising to open Backstory “in south-west London some time this summer”. (Well, I almost made it…).
In her characteristic mix of the confessional and the probing, Dani suggested the three of us pick our “rose” and “thorn” moments of the past year, and a “bud” that showed promise for the future. I won’t share theirs, but suffice to say that having a kid who develops in some new way every day provides plenty to look forward to.
My rose isn’t a big-name event or a particularly good day of Christmas trading, great though those are. It is the feeling I get when I walk into the shop at lunchtime on a chilly or wet day to be met with so much warmth and contentment. To see my team sharing a joke with each other or a customer; locals nursing their coffees and wine glasses around the bar; strangers sitting in the chairs - sometimes with dogs at their feet - staying for just another chapter, not necessarily even speaking to anyone else, but knowing that they are there.
Perhaps this is because I don’t have kids, and have no particular wish to change that. Or perhaps because for so long I had a job whose product was designed to be disposable, to be extremely relevant for ten minutes or a day - a week if you were lucky - and then forgotten. Or perhaps because I’m hopeless at DIY, gardening, drawing, cooking - anything that involves making things. But that feeling of having made something that others get such obvious pleasure from - that I can walk into and experience but that also has a life independent of me - that’s pretty awesome.
In a way, my thorn is the opposite of that, the absence of people. It was February, particularly the last two weeks of the month. Every bookshop owner I had asked for advice had warned me that it was the worst month of the year. At least in January, they said, people have book tokens to spend; come February, they are still skint, the weather provides free advertising for online shopping and there are few big events on the horizon for which to buy books.
But even though I was forewarned, and even though, averaged out, the month ended up being not all that bad on the spreadsheet, nothing could have prepared me for seeing the shop empty. For standing behind the counter for the first half-hour of a day when nobody had crossed the threshold at all, like the guy who had laid on a lavish party only for all the guests to cancel at the last minute. You know customers will turn up eventually…but what if they don’t?
So I was even more grateful than usual that we had two sold-out evening events during that fortnight. They were oases of buzz in an otherwise dead time. I will try to remember that next year and maybe even plan more events for this time of year. Bring in the punters, by any means necessary…
My bud is also about people, but this time the Backstory team. It’s my first time being a boss, which brings its challenges (don’t talk to me about the rota), but also way more joy than I was expecting. In particular, I love being able to be the person who says “yes” a lot of the time. For someone to have a great idea and for us just to do it. Now.
It’s been really fun seeing Denise, Rory and Amy feeling more confident to bring their own ideas, creativity and energy to the shop. I know I’ve hired bright, sparky, lovely people who have all got a lot more ideas where those came from. The same goes for Megan and Darby, who both joined the team today (welcome!). The exciting bit is that I don’t know yet what those ideas will be. But I’ll be there to say yes.
So here’s to another year on the high street, online…and in your inbox every Sunday (sorry). Thanks as ever for all your support,
Tom
Our bestsellers this week
Empireland by Sathnam Sanghera - March’s Backstory book club
Foster by Claire Keegan
Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Love Marriage by Monica Ali - now in paperback
At the Table by Claire Powell - now in paperback
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus - now in paperback
I’m Sorry You Feel That Way by Rebecca Wait
Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey
Taste by Stanley Tucci
I love reading this every Sunday - it’s been so fun seeing your idea turn into reality and clearly now thriving.
🔥🔥❤️🙏🙌🙌