A Hallmark rom-com filled with mythical creatures, Sarah Beth Durst’s THE SPELLSHOP is a cottagecore fantasy that follows an unexpected journey through the low-stakes market of illegal spell-selling and the high-risk business of starting over.
The library, for Sarah Beth, was not just a peaceful sanctuary throughout childhood, but the inspiration for her upcoming romantasy novel, whose protagonist, a librarian, adventures into a cozy, mystical world, with her books in tow. And today, Sarah Beth joins us with a special message for librarians!
THE SPELLSHOP is available to download on Edelweiss and NetGalley
Dear Librarians,
When I was little, my mom had to make a rule: I could only take out from the library as many books as I could carry. So, I got very good at stretching my arms out as far as they could reach and tucking an enormous stack of books between my fingertips and my chin. Years later, shortly after we moved to a new town, my husband came with me to the local library and gallantly offered to carry my books. He’s 6’6” and, as you might imagine, has long arms. After he staggered out of the library with more books than any human should ever be asked to carry, he had a few regrets. I had none.
I was thinking of this while I wrote the first chapter of THE SPELLSHOP. Kiela, my main character, is a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, and her first thought when a revolution breaks out is: “How many books can I save?” She loads up a boat with as many crates of books as she can and flees from the burning city with her library assistant Caz, a talking spider plant.
The only place she can think of to go is a cottage on a remote island, her childhood home. She hopes they’ll be able to keep the books safe there. She doesn’t anticipate meeting a kind (and handsome) neighbor who herds her horses and insists on making sure she’s fed. And she doesn’t expect to fall in love with the beauty of the island, its forests and orchards and coves, and its quirky residents.
THE SPELLSHOP is a cozy fantasy about a rogue librarian, a sentient spider plant, illicit spells, and a lot of raspberry jam. It’s also about the importance of books and the sharing of knowledge.
Libraries have always been really important places to me. They feel like home. I love roving through the stacks and knowing that I can learn anything I want to learn, go anywhere I want to go, and be anyone I want to be—I find that immensely comforting.
I wrote THE SPELLSHOP to feel like a library feels to me. I wrote it to feel like a sanctuary.
We’ve all been through a lot over the past few years, and I wrote THE SPELLSHOP as a gift to anyone who wants to escape and sink into a world filled with kindness and enchantment. It’s intended to be a respite from everything stressful and upsetting in the world, and it’s full of every bit of delight that I could pour into it.
I hope that you (and your patrons) enjoy it!
Best wishes,
Sarah Beth Durst
THE SPELL SHOP by Sarah Beth Durst; 9781250333971; 7/9/24
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