Backstory gifts

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The Backstory book subscriptionThe Backstory book subscription
The Backstory book subscription
Sale priceFrom £45.00
Backstory vouchersBackstory vouchers
Backstory vouchers
Sale priceFrom £10.00
Backstory fiction book club voucherBackstory fiction book club voucher
Backstory fiction book club voucher
Sale priceFrom £45.00
Backstory tote bagBackstory tote bag
Backstory tote bag
Sale price£3.95

2023's Booker Prize winner

Prophet Song by Paul Lynch

The winner of this year's Booker Prize, a dystopian novel set in Ireland.

As the country unravels around her, how far will one woman go to save her family?

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Our favourite books of 2023

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In Memoriam : THE TOP FIVE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER-9780241567821
In Memoriam by Alice Winn
Sale price£14.99
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Sale price£18.99
August Blue-9780241421314
August Blue by Deborah Levy
Sale price£18.99
Kala by Colin Walsh
Kala by Colin Walsh
Sale price£16.99

Christmas shopping evenings

Join us on two Thursday evenings in December for Christmas shopping, drinks, mince pies, and special festive live music. Come for Christmas cheer and all our favourite books of the year. We're on hand to recommend books, fill your stockings, and pour your drinks. Come from 6pm.

Coming up:

14th December - with music from Anna Masic and James Or

21st December - with music from Rory McNeill and Miranda Joy

Find out more

What we thought about 'In Memoriam'

Backstory's book of the year

In Memoriam by Alice Winn

A beautiful debut novel the whole team loved, about two young men in 1914 who don't realise they're in love until the war upends their bucolic existence. It's a tragic but gorgeous read about beauty and war, love and enmity, men and the things they do to one another. Highly recommended.

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Tom's free newsletter

Confessions of a journalist-turned-bookseller, in your inbox every Sunday

Our bestsellers of 2023

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In Memoriam : THE TOP FIVE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER-9780241567821
In Memoriam by Alice Winn
Sale price£14.99
Send Nudes by Saba Sams
Send Nudes by Saba Sams
Sale price£9.99

Give a tailored book subscription

Our book subscriptions make the perfect gift - for friends, family...or yourself. 

Each month the recipient will receive a hand-picked paperback book just for them, all wrapped up, from a member of our team along with a handwritten note about why we think they will love it.  The books are tailored to each subscriber and are based on a simple survey we ask the recipient to complete before their subscription starts so we know what they enjoy reading (and don't!). 

We offer 3, 6 or 12 month adult or kids subscriptions, with non-fiction and fiction options.

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Christmas picks: food & drink

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Christmas picks for children

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Christmas picks: Nature

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We made a magazine!

Pick up issue 1 of our very own magazine for £2.95.

  • Exclusive articles by our favourite writers, like Alice Winn, Jessica Andrews & Tom Crewe
  • Meet the Black chefs shaking up the cookbook world
  • The secret diary of a book scout
  • What if Richard Osman and Agatha Christie went on a literary blind date?
  • And your favourite booksellers...
Buy issue 1

Upcoming events

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Amy's picks

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Poetry open mic - 1st Dec

We’re hosting another poetry open mic this Friday (1st December) at 6.30pm, with headliner Tolu Agbelusi. Come at 6pm to sign up if you want to perform. We'll have a mic set up in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere for anyone to come and share their poetry or prose. Open mic-ers will sign up at the door and, once called up, will have five minutes (though no need to fill that all up!).

About Tolu: Tolu Agbelusi is a Nigerian British poet, editor, lawyer, and artist working across theatre, photography and film. Her work deconstructs received narratives particularly on womanhood, race and social justice.

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Darby's picks

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Join the book clubs that meet with the author

We run two book clubs that meet monthly on Zoom, for fiction and non-fiction. The best thing about them is that the author herself attends each session.

We've been so lucky to be able to ask our questions directly to authors like Caleb Azumah Nelson, Patrick Radden Keefe, Katherine Rundell, Tim Marshall and Sathnam Sanghera.

Next at the fiction book club: Bobby Palmer, Isaac and the Egg

Next at the non-fiction book club: Christina Lamb, Our Bodies, Their Battlefield

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