What does it take to open an independent English-language bookshop in the South of France?

For Andrea Moreau, the answer began with a move from South Africa to Nice to be closer to her grown-up children. Less than two years later, she and her daughter, Danae, had opened Read The Room – an independent English-language bookshop and café just beyond Nice's historic old town.

In this episode of Bookshop Stories, Andrea shares the remarkable story behind that leap of faith, from finding the perfect premises almost by accident to creating a space where tourists, expats and French locals gather over books, coffee and conversation.

We talk about the realities of running a bookshop abroad, why Read The Room introduced a no-laptop policy, how a tiny retail space has become a thriving community hub, and why books continue to bring people together across cultures and languages.

More than anything, this is a conversation about belonging. About leaving one home behind, building another somewhere completely unfamiliar, and discovering that sometimes the people who walk through your door become family.

In this episode we discuss:

• Why Andrea left South Africa for the French Riviera

• Opening Read The Room with her daughter, Danae

• Running an English-language bookshop in France

• Finding readers in both the local French community and among visitors to Nice

• Why Read The Room banned laptops

• Building community through books, coffee and conversation

• The commercial realities of independent bookselling

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  Books and authors mentioned

• • The Cutthroat Trial, The Secret Barrister

  • London Falling, Patrick Radden Keefe

  • Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke

  
  

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