bookshop owner penelope fletcher on literary paris, bookshops as community centers, and growing up in a dystopian utopia
meet penelope fletcher
You're most likely to spot Penelope Fletcher behind the cash register, on the ladder, or running between the three branches of her bookstore, The Red Wheelbarrow, in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, right next to the Jardin du Luxembourg. She grew up on Hornby Island, off the coast of Canada, and moved to Paris in 1990. We spoke with Penelope about her upbringing, moving to Paris, her experience of reopening her bookstore with her friend who had cancer, and the community she has curated through selling books.
“My mother was a decoder during World War II. She wasn’t allowed to talk about what she did, and she was only between the ages of 16 and 20 during the war. She was quite secretive about her past. After the war, she worked for the Allied Circle, and so she met lots of people. She knew T.S. Eliot. Then she lived in Somalia for a while.
So, I had a mother who’d had lots and lots of adventures, and she was a fabulous storyteller. It’s funny — she was a bit secretive and couldn’t talk about some things, but then she also told amazing stories. But haven’t you noticed that about people who are writers?”
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