For fourteen years, Emily Partridge dreamed of opening a bookshop.

While working in education, she imagined creating a place where people could browse, discover new authors, sit with a cup of tea and lose themselves among the shelves. Like so many long-held ambitions, though, it was always something for “one day” – until redundancy forced a decision that would change her life.

In this, the very first episode of Bookshop Stories, we’re with Black Cat Books in Launceston, Cornwall, to hear how Emily turned a fourteen-year dream into reality and what she’s learned during the first eighteen months of running an independent bookshop.

Our conversation explores the realities of modern bookselling, from six-day working weeks, social media and stocking decisions to the economics of running a small business on Britain’s high street.

Along the way, Emily shares the story of a century-old prayer book that perfectly captures why she loves second-hand books, explains why her coffee machine is called Raymond, introduces us to Spook – the black cat who has become something of a local celebrity – and reflects on how Black Cat Books has grown into far more than somewhere to buy a novel.

This is a conversation about books, certainly, but it's also about community, purpose, independent businesses, and what happens when you finally decide to stop talking about a dream and start living it.

Books, authors and recommendations from this episode:

• Gorse and Ragwort by Sam K. Horton
• Folk horror writers, David Barnett and Jodie Matthews
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
• Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and Maggie O'Farrell
• The Wicker Man (as an introduction to folk horror)

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