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Every book lover and eccentric will be engrossed in this true account of one
woman’s dream to make her dream a reality and open a bookshop – and not just
your run-of-the-mill kind. Sydney lawyer Annette Freeman dreamed of a
bookshop that was also a café, a meeting place, a meeting of like minds. She
envisioned poetry readings, author visits – a real hub for all those who
loved to surround themselves in books.
After extensive research including scouring bookshops in Australia and the
United States and extensive market research with advice from many
consultants, Annette opened Tea In The Library. This remarkable venture
lasted for 18 months and in its time drew authors big and small, attracted
much publicity and was the favourite haunt for many book lovers.
Annette’s book is not just about her daring to follow a dream, nurture it to
become a reality and then see her beloved bookshop close its doors after 18
months for a variety of reasons. It is more than this. The pictures Annette
paints about bookshops around the world, her love of reading, her favourite
authors, her dreams will strike a familiar chord with many book lovers – in
a way, she was living our dreams too.
Reading Tea In The Library is almost like snuggling into a comfy café couch
and having a conversation with a good friend. The bookshop dream was not a
failure in that Annette grew along the way, learned many new skills and made
a lot of friends. There are also accounts of her amazing travels to
far-flung places across the world and these make good reading too. And of
course, we all get a better insight into the reality of the commercial world
of books as opposed to the literary love of books. Every book lover will
love this book and it belongs in a bookshop just like Tea In The Library.
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