The Bookshop Podcast
Reinvention, Resilience, and Reading: Diane Park’s Journey to Thriving Bookshop Owner
What drives a woman to reinvent herself in her 40s and open a thriving bookshop championing strong women and diverse voices? Join me as I sit down with Diane Park, the remarkable owner of Wave of Nostalgia in Hayworth, UK. Diane’s journey is anything but conventional. From leaving school at 16 and facing early adult responsibilities after her mother's passing to a career in banking and achievements in indoor rowing, Diane’s path has been full of twists and turns. Her story is a powerful testament to resilience as she navigates her roles as a mother, local councilor, and now a bookstore owner.
In this episode, Diane transports us to the charming village of Hayworth, famous for the Bronte sisters, where she has created a haven for book lovers who enjoy reading feminist, LGBTQ+, and environmental literature. Diane shares the joys of community life, the challenges and triumphs of running an independent bookshop, and the importance of inclusivity. This episode is a celebration of literature’s power to transform lives and bring communities together.
Wave of Nostalgia
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Brontë
Miranda Hart – The Biography, Sophie Johnson
Walking the Invisible, Michael Stewart
What drives a woman to reinvent herself in her 40s and open a thriving bookshop championing strong women and diverse voices? Join me as I sit down with Diane Park, the remarkable owner of Wave of Nostalgia in Hayworth, UK. Diane’s journey is anything but conventional. From leaving school at 16 and facing early adult responsibilities after her mother's passing to a career in banking and achievements in indoor rowing, Diane’s path has been full of twists and turns. Her story is a powerful testament to resilience as she navigates her roles as a mother, local councilor, and now a bookstore owner.
In this episode, Diane transports us to the charming village of Hayworth, famous for the Bronte sisters, where she has created a haven for book lovers who enjoy reading feminist, LGBTQ+, and environmental literature. Diane shares the joys of community life, the challenges and triumphs of running an independent bookshop, and the importance of inclusivity. This episode is a celebration of literature’s power to transform lives and bring communities together.
Wave of Nostalgia
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Brontë
Miranda Hart – The Biography, Sophie Johnson
Walking the Invisible, Michael Stewart
Hi, my name is Mandy Jackson-Beverly and I'm a bibliophile. Welcome to the Bookshop Podcast. Each week, I present interviews with authors, independent bookshop owners and booksellers from around the globe and publishing professionals. To help the show reach more people, please share episodes with friends and family and on social media, and remember to subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to this podcast. You're listening to episode 260. Located in the village of Hayworth, home of the Bronte sisters, wave of Nostalgia is an award-winning bookshop themed on strong women, with a highlight on suffragette, feminist and LGBTQ plus books. The bookshop also sources unique items from local suppliers and artisans at affordable prices. Suppliers and artisans at affordable prices. Owner Diane Park opened the bookshop with two old-fashioned values in mind great personal customer service and excellent value for money. In her workroom above the shop, diane designs and hand makes clothes with a unique twist for children, using striking fabrics. Hi, diane, and welcome to the show. It's great to have you here.
Speaker 2:Oh, thanks, mandy, it's such a delight. I'm so happy to be here too.
Speaker 1:Let's begin with learning about you leaving school at 16, your interest in vintage clothing and what led you to open an independent bookshop in Howarth.
Speaker 2:Well, there's about 40 years in between, because it wasn't until I was in my mid-50s that I, you know, took the chance to actually go. Well, I guess if I'd known what I know here when I was 16, then it would have been a dream, honestly, right from the word go. But I didn't have the support when I was 16 and I left school at 16, not because wanted to, because my father took me out of school, which is a little bit sad. My mum died when I was 15. And in the sixth form my dad decided that he wanted someone else to this is probably where my feminist rage comes from, you know, mandy and because he wanted me to go to work and I ended up going to work in a bank and I wanted to be an artist, and so you can imagine how that felt. Bank and I wanted to be an artist, and so you can imagine how that felt. So I was a housekeeper from 16 and I looked after my, my um brother, like a son, I suppose. When I think about it now, um and I went out to work full-time and then the first person that said hi to me I married at 19 and then I had two children by the age of 23 and I was still. When I look back at the photographs, I'm still a baby myself then. And then um went back to work in the bank, had two more children, so I have four children and eight grandchildren, which is fantastic.
Speaker 2:Um went back to work in the bank again, so because that was the biggest employer in the area. That's why everybody in my location went to work. So I didn't know anything else. I wasn't immersed in anything really book wise, that was just work, work, work and children. I didn't go to the theatre, I didn't listen to much radio, and it wasn't until I met my second husband, because I got divorced when I was in my 30s. I got married again at 40 and boy did life begin again at 40. I did loads of things in my 40s and I found out there was this massive world out there and I learned to do loads and loads and loads of things. Shall I quickly tell you what they are yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1:I'm thoroughly captivated by your story.
Speaker 2:So I learned to play the piano because I'd always wanted to do that. I became a local counsellor to help people in the local area. I'm not really into politics but I like to get things done, and it's okay talking about it, but the best thing to do is to get on and do it. So I did that. I joined the church and became a deacon. I was still working full time, but I had a sales job at that point and I was very sporty and I went to the gym as well. And I found out I was really good on the rowing machine and I've got two indoor medals for indoor rowing. So I've got two British medals, a bronze and a silver.
Speaker 2:I did that and then I was going to be part of a team of girls to row the Atlantic but decided not to do that because it was too dangerous. So I decided not to do that. The sensible part of my head took over. So, because I was so geared up and athletic at that point, I did a couple of half marathons and then a marathon the London marathon and raised loads of money for charity and because of that it got noticed and I ended up carrying the Olympic torch for one of the little stretchers in 2010. So I did absolutely loads and in all that time I met all these people and picked up so many skills customer service skills, sales skills, just generally networking skills.
Speaker 2:I went back to work in the bank. I was still there doing that. I stood in the general election in 2010 and we've got elections now. Gosh, I get so much female rage, mandy, I cannot tell you. We just need some female leaders in there with some common sense. Surely we sure do.
Speaker 2:Anyway, so we get to the age where I'm about mid-50s and I thought I can't work in a bank anymore. This is not what I wanted to do, because I was a PA at this point for one of the head guys in uh, in the Lloyd's Bank in England, and I was bedoodling and drawing pictures of little dresses and thinking about shops and they said did you get that? And I go uh, you know, could you just repeat that again please? Because I wasn't listening, obviously because I was so bored and I thought it was a book that inspired me Monday and it's a comedian and I read this book. It was given to me over Christmas, but she said if you've got a dream, go for it, because if you don't go for it you'll always regret it. But if you have a go, at least you've had a go, and if it doesn't work, you can go back to what you did before. Do you remember the name of the author? She's called Miranda Hart and she wrote her biography and she decided to go and be a comedian and if it didn't work she would go back to her office job. But it did work, which is perfect. So I thought right, miranda, I'm going to give it a go.
Speaker 2:I had no clue what I was doing Monday not a clue. And I ended up selling vintage things because I was very creative upcycling furniture, making things, buying things in a charity shop and doing it up a little bit, buying cups and saucers from people and friends, and people would donate to me, um, and I ended up doing vintage craft fairs and 1940s wartime events with a little tiny table and a tent stood in a field in the rain and the wind and everything else, and sometimes that worked, sometimes it didn't. Sometimes I'd spend all day on a Sunday in a church hall and not sell anything at all, and one day I did that. I paid for the stall. I stood there all day, not sold anything because there weren't enough people there, basically, and then got a speeding ticket on the way home. So that was a fun day oh my goodness but I persevered.
Speaker 2:I persevered. I was still working at that point and doing vintage stalls for the weekend and then I thought something's got to give, because I can't give this um, it's got having a business. I can't give it, it's all without having a lot of time, because I can't do work as well. When do I do my making? Because that's what I was selling little hair ties for my hair and because that's what I was selling little hair ties for my hair and little dresses and I worked out I didn't know I could sew to make it so that it would fit somebody. I did woodwork at school. I didn't do sewing class. So I worked out that I could make dresses and I was making them at a really good price and so I was selling lots. So I put the price up and I was still selling lots and I put the price again and nobody blinked an eye and it was amazing and I thought that's great, so I get better quality fabric.
Speaker 2:What I really needed was where to have a base, because I was making at home, putting things in the car at the weekend and then driving to a fair. So I found a pop up shop, but I didn't just book it for one or two days. I booked it for two weeks together in one month and then two weeks again the next month so that people would get used to me being there. And it really worked because they thought it was a proper shop and I'd not done that before. So that was really great. So I carried on with that, made a little bit more money, saved a bit, and then I started leasing my own shop, still doing all the vintage things, and then I found a shop in Howarth where I am now and I've been there eight years and it's the best spot ever. It's the home of the Brontes.
Speaker 1:Yes, I saw that it looks absolutely beautiful too. And in regards to the store, is your clothing mixed together with the bookshop?
Speaker 2:So I used to have vintage with books and gifts in between the shop. You know, as you came in you would see maybe a face compact and a little lipstick and a book and a little hair tie and a scarf that I'd made or something like that. It was all very nicely set out. But because lockdown happened, I couldn't make clothes for anybody anymore because I couldn't get close to them to measure them and nobody was going out and I was reading loads of books and I thought why don't I sell some more books? Because people are talking about books everywhere and I could sell more books.
Speaker 2:So I started selling a few more books and because I was choosing them the ones I liked I realized that people liked my choices and so in between there were two lockdowns. There was one where there was a bit of easing in the middle and we went and visited a couple of bookshops and I thought I could do this. So I joined the booksellers association and I got a really good book wholesaler and started choosing books, but I themed them on strong women. So the focuses I have in the shop are strong women, lgbtq and conservation, because those are the loves of my life and because I'm passionate about them.
Speaker 1:I'm finding out more about it, and then I can pass that on to the customer as well, and tell me about the diversity of the population of Haworth and the surrounding areas.
Speaker 2:It's just like a normal little town really. There's about 12,000 people there. The Howarth Main Street, where I have my shop, has got 40 or so independent stores on it, restaurants and cafes and gift shops and things, and it is really a tourist destination. It's a very steep hill, it's cobbled, it has a church at the top, a steam trim at the bottom and the Bronte Parsonage at the top. So all around it you've got your social housing, your posh houses, if you like, for want of a better word schools and life goes on. You know, doctor surgeries and life goes on as doctor surgeries and all life goes on as usual around these supermarkets and all that sort of thing. So it's it's just like any normal small town. Very close by there is a town called keithley, um, and that's got a mainly muslim demographic and that's a lovely another lovely place where the steam train goes to from Howarth to Keithley. That's quite a deprived area at the moment as well. So we do a lot of books to school in World Book Day. So we did over 3,000 this year.
Speaker 1:Well, that's something to be proud of. Yes, diane, you've spoken a little about how Howarth was the home of the Bronte sisters, and how does this piece of history draw readers from near and far? And if I were visiting the area, what historic sites, hiking trails and other indie businesses do you suggest I visit?
Speaker 2:Oh gosh, where to start? Well, the Parsonage. You must start the Parsonage because that's where the Bronte sisters grew up. So you've got Emily, you've got Charlotte and Anne and the dad Patrick and the brother Bramwell in a lovely stone house in the middle of the moor, surrounded by graveyard. Now there are lots of trees and rooks and it's very, very atmospheric, it's very gothic.
Speaker 2:There is a beautiful church which was patrick's church, the father of the brontes, uh, st michael's um in the angels. That's just across the way across the churchyard. And then you've got the black bull public house where branwell used to go and drink because he of his love affair. And then across the way you've got um the apothecary, which was the chemist where he used to go and buy his opium, to um smoke or eat. So that's beautifully created now when you buy your hand creams and lovely smelly things in there now. But it's beautiful alder, night and wood. So we go to those two things and of course, read Wuthering Heights, go up onto the moors, go to Top Withins. There are walks everywhere across the Howarth moors. Whatever you look at is stunning because of course we're on the top of the hill and it just looks out over all these views. It's just beautiful.
Speaker 1:Oh, it sounds gorgeous. And what do you love most about living in Howarth?
Speaker 2:Every single thing, every single thing, mandy, from getting up in the morning walking little dog um through the trees, through the graveyards, speaking to people because with it being quite a small community, you get to know people. You know there's an awful lot of gossip goes on on. You, hi, how are so-and-so, so-and-so's not, well been well. And you know there's all this little chit-chat going on. So that's all magic because of the community spirit. That's wonderful.
Speaker 2:And then opening the shop in the morning, that's always one of my favourite things. And being in house looking out over the, as I put my board out that says open, and I look down the cobble street, down the hillside, even if it's pouring with rain, or the sun's shining, or even if it's just, you know, just misty or cloudy, it always looks fantastic. It's like an oil painting that's changing every day. And you put your board outside and the air is so fresh and crisp and you can hear the rooks screaming in the trees. It's just wonderful. And then a horse will walk past. Honestly, sometimes I think Charlotte's going to just walk past me and say morning, it feels like it's so steeped in history and, you know, you feel like you could just go back in time, just by opening a door and you'd be there. It's hard to explain, but people are drawn back to how you know. They come and visit. We have authors from all over the world come and visit People who are aspiring authors come from all over the world and then they come back.
Speaker 1:And then they come back and live, and that happens so many times oh well, you've made me want to come over for a month and just stay there and write and hike. Oh, please do. I'll let you know when I do, diane. Congratulations on wave of nostalgia being voted independent bookshop of the year for the north of england 2024.
Speaker 2:It's fantastic I know it is because I I was learning on my feet, mandy, the, the learning curve. I mean, I say howard's main street is steep, but my learning curve it wasn't a curve, it was like climbing everest. I had no clue. I'd never sold a book. I didn't know how it worked. I've got a bit of a clue now.
Speaker 2:I'm very savvy now of what's going on and we sell over a thousand books and our turnover last year was incredible. We did quarter of a million pounds last year from a table and I had 70 pounds to start with. Good Lord, that's fantastic. That is incredible to me. And it's all been fun and it's. You know, there's been some difficult times, don't get me wrong, and there's some days when we've not sold anything at all. That always happens because that's just retail. But if you keep a positive attitude and you're, you know, inspired and passionate about what you're doing, it just gets you through. And our customers are absolutely fantastic. They say the most wonderful things and you've got to remember, haven't you, all those wonderful, wonderful comments that you get from people and forget the odd one where somebody says something that's a little bit, you know, not very nice. You've got to forget those and remember all the great ones. So that's what we do we stay positive.
Speaker 1:Yes, in this world right now, there is so much fear and negativity. I agree with you. I think we have to focus on the positive, because great things can happen, but we have to want them to happen and help them happen, and one way to do this is to stay positive. Yeah, oh absolutely. And one way to do this is to stay positive. Yeah, oh, absolutely, diane. What do you think it is about? Wave of Nostalgia that has made it successful and that's made it a standout bookshop.
Speaker 2:Well, do you know, I've just been having an interview with a newspaper, just before I came on with yourself and he said to me he's been in my shop and he said I know you're curated. And he said, don, he's been in my shop and he said I know you're curated. And he said, don't take this the wrong way, but when I come into your shop I feel welcome and I don't feel like it's hard for him to explain. But he said it feels like it's all encompassing, even though you've got those strong themes going through it, which is a really nice thing to say, because I know what he means. You go into maybe, um, an LGBT bookshop. You might not feel like there's something there for you. Or you go to a gardening shop that might not be there for you. You know, do you see what I mean? And we do try to make ours our shop so that it's encompassing for everybody and they all, everybody gets a lovely hello in the morning. We've got beautiful flowers they're about two foot tall, fresh flowers straight from the Netherlands, and it makes a wealth of difference. We have classical music playing very carefully in the background, so it's not interfering, and it's very, very colourful.
Speaker 2:I've got hand-poured candles that are called the vintage books. So that it fits in with the theme, I've got my little clothes made. I have the little tiny mice that fit in between as well that's a little brand I won't mention and then there's a little room, so it's like somebody's front room and somebody's back room. I don't know if you understand what I mean there. So it's like I know it's an old house and it used to be somebody's front room, the parlor if you like and then the back bit was where the kitchen was. So it's just like two parts of a house and it's not filled with bookcases.
Speaker 2:So you've got a beautiful bookcase there behind you, that lovely wooden bookcase. But my shop doesn't have floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. It has a round table in the middle with the flowers and books all around it, and then it has an old-fashioned Welsh treasure. It has an upcycled desk. That was actually my next door neighbor's girl who did her homework on it and then she's married and got children now, but she gave me the desk, which looks great. I've got two vintage counters that look great, a little wall shelf and all these thousand books fit in between on different displays and it just looks different.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it looks unique but at the same time, I'm sure it feels like someone's home. Yes, You've talked about how you are a feminist. What are some of the most popular books on feminism or written by feminists that you carry in the store Gosh?
Speaker 2:okay. So I have a little space in the shop. We call it Feminist Corner and you can't avoid it. I've put it in a place where you have to go through it and out again, which is good. There are lots of Laura Bates.
Speaker 2:Laura Bates writes great feminist books, so I won't list all of them, but one of my favorites is Fix the System, not the Women. Oh, I love that title. Yeah, there's the Cost of Sexism. There's one called Entitled, the Joy of being Selfish the Power of Rude. It's not really rude when you say no, I don't agree with that, or that's not actually the way you should be speaking, and it teaches you to understand how to explain that to somebody. Uh, the guilty feminist, um, and then feminist city, is Leslie Kern. She's written quite a few books on feminism and they're all on our website. Of course, I can't remember all the authors, but I have the same core um feminist books most the time, and then some new ones come in and they'll stay there for a while. But if they don't move as fast as the ones that sell all the time, then I move on to the next one, if you see what I mean. There's a great one called Bitch as well, and one called Tits Up.
Speaker 1:They sound like two great titles to have front and center. Yeah, and can you tell me about some of your local authors?
Speaker 2:Oh gosh. Well, even in Howarth Village I've got Michael Stewart who's written Walking the Invisible, which is looking at the countryside through the eyes of the Brontes, and then he's got another one called Ill Will, which is really clever because that is Heathcliff's missing years, and I love explaining that to people, about Heathcliff hearing Cathy in the kitchen when she says oh, I love Linton, I'm going to go off, I'm sorry, I'm going to go marry Linton because he's got all the money, but I love Heathcliff. But Heathcliff didn't hear that, didn't he? And he ran away. Heathcliff didn't hear that, didn't he? And he ran away. So this is Michael imagining what Heathcliff did in those years before he came back to be the person that he was when he met Cathy, when he came back, and it's fantastic, really interesting. And then Clara Callaghan has written she lives in Haworth as well and she's written about Charlotte Bronte Reimagined, and that's telling the story of Charlotte Bronte. I'm bringing that up today and thinking about how she fits in modern society as well now. So I loved reading that one.
Speaker 2:And then we've got Karen Powell another Bronte book, because people are just so drawn and she's written a book called 15 Wild Decembers and she's written it in the voice of Emily Bronte and I loved it. It was so empowering. It's one to read 15 Wild Decembers, karen Powell. It was a very brave thing to do to write in the voice of Emily Bronte. But our best best seller is a local author and this lady is in her late 60s. She's called Stephanie Shields. She's actually self-published. In the two years we've sold over 500 copies, which is a lot for a small bookshop. That is a lot of books. And her book is about a real life woman called margaret, who lived in a village not far away called in timble and she was accused of witchcraft in 1642 and was sent to york castle twice. And she was accused by the poet laureate at the time, who was a guy called Edward Fairfax. And what a story that is. And that book is called Strange.
Speaker 1:Woman.
Speaker 2:And it sells itself off my shelf. When we go on holiday even if it's just a day holiday and we're in a little town we go to the bookshop because she just can't help it. Bookshops are great anyway, but it's a bit of a bus holiday. But I was in um, a town a few miles away, and I saw this book strange woman in the window and it's about two years ago now and I thought that looks interesting.
Speaker 2:It's got a great cover, great title, and I went in to buy it and the lady knew me and she said oh, you don't have to buy the book, I'll give you the author's email address. I said oh, no, no, I want to support you and I'll buy the book, but give me the email address. So she did and I loved the book. I got in touch with the author. She came over to me and we had lunch. She brought me six copies. I'd sold them in two days, so she brought me another 12 copies and now she brings me 24 every three or four weeks and it's just incredible. But it's because it's a great story, well-written, great title and a super cover, and that's what it takes really?
Speaker 1:Yes, I think for a self-published book to do well, it must replicate the look of a traditionally published book. It has to have a great cover, the great formatting, all the correct information on the copyright page, plus great editing and a fabulous story.
Speaker 2:Exactly Now. She's writing another one at the moment. I know she's going to try, I know she's got somebody that's interested, so you might hear more of Stephanie Shields.
Speaker 1:She sounds like a great author. To keep a lookout for Diane. As a bookseller and a bookshop owner, are there any genres and topics that you'd like to see more publishers supporting?
Speaker 2:Oh, that was a left field question, wasn't it, I wasn't ready for that one.
Speaker 1:Oh dear, sorry about that, but it could be any books related to a disability or a story written by someone with a disability.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they are starting to. But autism is one thing. If we have a book on autism or ADHD, they get snapped up straight away. So I've got some journals and some self-help type books and medical books but not too difficult medical books and as soon as I have them in the shop they're straight out of the shop. And it's nothing to do with the price either, because some of them are £20. And people just want to know more and more about the subject. And there are some fictional books that are being written as well at the moment, but there's not enough about that. We tend to focus a lot in fiction about dragons, don't we?
Speaker 1:And there are some fictional books that are being written as well at the moment but there's not enough about that.
Speaker 2:We tend to focus a lot in fiction about dragons, don't we? Yes? Or people turning into dragons. I think it's called escapism dragon with ADHD. I'm sure there's a book there somewhere, oh my goodness.
Speaker 1:And getting back to your need for escape, I think that's what happened during the pandemic Everyone was searching for a way to escape the fear of what was going on globally.
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we did, you're right. Okay, diane, what are you currently reading?
Speaker 2:Right, well, I'm actually reading. I'm reading three at the moment. So we have an awful lot of events at our shop, one or two a week, sometimes a children's author, sometimes it'll just be somebody popping in to sign a book, but quite often we do events on an evening as well, and I like to read the book before the event. So that's why I have a few on the go. And also for my birthday, which is Christmas Eve just like to add that in I gave myself the present of a book club and what we are doing is reading the Women's Prize for Fiction backlist from 1996. So we've got it set. We know what we're going to read. So I'm reading that as well.
Speaker 2:But I've just had an event this week with a girl called Charlotte Bradman who has written a book called the Happy Nomad. Charlotte I used to work with eight years ago and she came in the shop last week and said I've written a book. And every other day someone comes in the shop that I know, or don't know maybe, and they'll say I, I've written a book, will you put it in your shop? You would not believe how many people have written books. And so what you were saying, I'll do it sale or return, let me have a little look. And then she went oh, but I've written a real book and it's really published. Please will you look at it, bless her. Oh, you should have said that first.
Speaker 2:There is a proper published book. It's called the happy nomad in lockdown. She had her house repossessed, she had nowhere to live. She ended in a camper van and she's written a story about it and she is so happy. Two days later we had a book signing with her. So I'm reading that one and it just shows how you turn your life around. And she's local. And I want to tell you about Charlotte. But the big one I'm reading that one and it just shows how you turn your life around, and she's local, and I wanted to tell you about Charlotte. But the big one I'm reading is called Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books and it's a Californian writer. She's called Kirsten Miller. She had a feminist book out last year called the change. You must read it. It is so good. It will make you jump up and down and shake your fists and they go, yes, and I know it's revenge and fantasy and oh my god, it's so good anyway.
Speaker 2:This is a new one and it's embargoed until Thursday of this week in the UK, so the 20th of June. You can't have it till then. And it's about a small town who decide they're going to ban some books. And I'll tell you the books they're going to ban the Girl Guide to Revolution. Lord of the Flies. The Diary of Anne Frank, beloved Are you there, god, catcher in the Rye. All women are witches, genderqueer rivals and lovers.
Speaker 2:Okay, and the ones she wants you to read are this the Southern Bell's Guide to Etiquette. Buffy Halliday Goes to Europe. 101 Cakes to Bake for your Family. Chicken Soup for the Soul. The Art of Crochet, confederate Heroes and the Rules Time Tester Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr Right. But what happens is somebody sneaks into Lula Dean's library and swaps the covers. They swap the dust sheets, so the inside of the banned books and the outside of the books that she wanted to read. The books find themselves into the right person's hands so they can do some good with it and learn from it and understand it so good. And you know it's a good idea, isn't it at the moment? Because there's a lot of people trying to ban books and those brave enough to stand up.
Speaker 1:Are certain books being banned in the UK, like they are over here in the States?
Speaker 2:Not at the moment. They are thinking about it. When I say they, I'm talking about politicians. And you're looking at those books. You know the gender books. They talk about banning sex education for younger children. Don't ban it, just change it slightly. We should just all love each other, don't you think, and be kind. I think books can teach us to be that and you need to start at a young age with children. Give them a nice book to read, give them a good book to read, something that's going to start their curiosity, imagination. Don't stick them in front of a phone.
Speaker 1:Oh, diane, I wholeheartedly agree with everything you've just said. It's all about love and empathy and, yes, books are a great way for children to learn about life and to teach them empathy. Yeah, absolutely, diane. Thank you so much for being on the Bookshop podcast. You are an inspiration. I congratulate you again on all of your accomplishments, especially on being voted Independent Bookshop of the Year for the North of England for 2024. I look forward to interviewing you when you've written your own book. I think your story would inspire many women reaching middle age who are confused and wanting to follow a dream they've had for years. Thank you Before we go, who is your favorite? Bronte sister.
Speaker 2:Anne Bronte. Anne Bronte wrote the Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which I believe is the first feminist book ever written.
Speaker 1:And, on that note, diane, woman to woman, I'm super proud of everything you've achieved.
Speaker 1:Oh, thank you, and you'll come and visit and you have a great day You've been listening to my conversation with Diane Park, the owner of Wave of Nostalgia in Hayworth, uk. To help the show reach more people, please share episodes with friends and family and on social media, and remember to subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to this podcast. To find out more about the Bookshop Podcast, go to thebookshoppodcastcom and make sure to subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to the show. You can also follow me at Mandy Jackson Beverly on X, instagram and Facebook and on YouTube at the Bookshop Podcast. If you have a favorite indie bookshop that you'd like to suggest we have on the podcast, I'd love to hear from you via the contact form at thebookshoppodcastcom. The Bookshop Podcast is written and produced by me, mandy Jackson Beverly, theme music provided by Brian Beverly, executive assistant to Mandy, adrienne Otterhan, and graphic design by Frances Farala. Thanks for listening and I'll see you next time. Bye.