24th July Newsletter
What’s On At Veranda
Welcome, welcome! The newsletter’s had a couple of weeks off – hope you’ve not missed us too much The shop, meanwhile, has been a hive of activity, with visitors from all corners of the world passing through, and regulars stocking up for their summers here or abroad. We’ve noticed a recent increase in a particularly charming customer segment: airline pilots and cabin crew, who are frequently stationed in nearby hotels. We can confirm that these frequent fliers are not only avid readers but impeccably turned-out, even when off-duty – the very definition of a safe pair of hands.
So here’s to another week at Veranda – and a reminder that even if you can’t visit, you can always find us on instagram @verandabookshop or online
Summer Social
If you’re in the area next Thursday, 30th July, please join us for the first ever Seymour Place Summer Social, celebrating the people and businesses who call this corner of Marylebone home.
Our favourite party people over at Mandy Zhang Art came up with the idea after seeing how much buzz has been generated by their current exhibition Behind Every Exquisite Thing by Chinese artist Xiaoguo Chen. Inspired by Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Chen has drawn on fiction, observation and lived experience to reimagine Seymour Place in a series of artworks – which can be seen both at the gallery and at Veranda Books.
What better way to celebrate this glorious mash-up of art, literature, and great neighbours, than with a chilled drink and lively conversation?
Where: Seymour Place, between The Portman and The Italian Greyhound
When: Thursday 30th July, 5-9pm
Many thanks to The Portman Estate for making this possible, and to The Carpenters Arms, Lurra, Seymour Kitchen, Fratelli Greci, Bleur Art, The Portman, So French, Florencio and Mandy Zhang Art for participating
Publisher Focus And Other Stories
Celebrating 15 years of operations this year, independent publisher And Other Stories are on such a roll, they need a bigger trophy cabinet. Finding space for it might be hard though – this free-thinking, ‘put-your-money-where-your-
If you’re a regular at Veranda (or any good indie bookshop), you’ll already know the books. Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ (tr. Lin King) won the International Booker Prize 2026 – last year, the prize was snapped up by Banu Mushtaq and translator Deepa Bhasthi for Heart Lamp, another And Other Stories success. None of this has happened overnight: the stories in Heart Lamp came together over 30 years. Similarly, And Other Stories have been working tirelessly with writers and translators – and readers – since 2009, a truly collaborative enterprise.
And Other Stories catalogue is unlike any other publishing house’s. There’s a lot of translated fiction, sourced from all parts of the world, and in some cases, considered ‘untranslatable’ by bigger publishers. Readers will also find poetry, essays and anglophone fiction. Overlooked or ‘rediscovered’ writers such as Rosalind Belben and Gerald Murnane have found new life here – not to mention Deborah Levy whose novel Swimming Home was rejected by bigger publishers.
This is a publisher with a clear vision and a strong moral purpose. A not-for-profit company, which takes care of its writers and translators, operates in an ethical manner, and is alert to the delicate ecosystem at play in literary culture. Founded by Stefan Tobler, a literary translator alongside his ‘day’ job, and still run by a very small, core team, alongside contributing editors and an advisory board.
We always stock a wide range of current And Other Stories’ books and are happy to make recommendations or source older titles. This is a publisher worth knowing, publishing books worth reading.
Now Booking
An evening with Pia Ghosh-Roy
We’re taking things easy (easier) over the summer, but when we heard that our friends at The Indigo Press were publishing Pia Ghosh-Roy’s debut novel, And I Am The Arrow, we were more than happy to find an evening to celebrate and hope you can join us for drinks and conversation.
Set between Calcutta, London and New York, this is a compulsive, kaleidoscopic saga of three generations of women and the ghost of a man who haunts them all after his grisly demise.
Pia will be in conversation with poet and author Melissa Fu, whose debut novel Peach Blossom Spring was published to great acclaim in 2022.
Come along! Thursday 20th August. Drinks from 6.30, conversation 7-8. Tickets £5. Book via the link below or call in at the shop to put your name down.
Our Recommended Reads
The Land and Its People by David Sedaris
An antidote to all the drama going on in the world, Leo has been reading The Land and Its People by David Sedaris.
Consisting of 28 mostly unpublished personal essays from the world’s favourite humorist, the stories mine familiar territory for fans, from his siblings, everyday encounters with normal people turned into quips and anecdotes about humanity, and his life with his husband, Hugh, who I always feel would rather not be the subject of his partner’s work, but is powerless to stop it.
There are smiles and laugh-out-loud moments aplenty when you read or listen to David Sedaris, but I always find myself drawn to the more reflective side of this writer. How his friendship with his oldest and closest friend, Dawn, has shaped him as a person. And how the death of a childhood friend naturally prompts him to consider mortality, which is inevitable for a writer who is now approaching his eighth decade.
Eating Ashes by Brenda Navarro (tr. Megan McDowell)
By contrast, this week Alison is recommending a book whose content can only be described as ‘challenging’. Despite being set in the holiday-friendly locations of Mexico and Spain, an easy summer read this is not. An unnamed narrator and her younger brother Diego are raised by their grandparents on a Mexican military base while their mother seeks her fortune in Madrid. When they eventually join her after nine years apart, the reality of the immigrant experience hits very hard. Diego’s suffering is such that two years in, he takes his own life, adding grief and guilt to his sister’s sorrows.
Based on the above, you may already know that this is not a book for you (or at least, not right now), but if you’re at all curious, then there’s a case to be made for a book which will open your eyes to this heartbreakingly common experience, in beautifully rendered prose (and stunning translation by Megan McDowell). This is not just an ‘immigrant story’, but one which views displacement across gender and generational lines, and will stay with you (as all the best books do).
What we’re loving this week…
Emily enjoyed an impromptu visit to Kew Gardens (again), due to a nursery closure day (again). This time it was to see a brilliantly camp outdoor theatre show of Jack and the Beanstalk. The interactive aspect of getting 3-year-olds to run around in the trees and collect golden eggs from the giant’s goose added another layer of hectic mayhem. Summer fun has truly begun!
Leo went to see the Ana Mendieta show at Tate Modern. Featuring work across film and photography, it’s unlike anything else I have ever seen. Hard to look at, strange, beautiful, this is a show that ultimately feels strangely uplifting, in spite of how tragically this young artist’s life ended.
Alison enjoyed an all-too-brief adventure in Kazakhstan, including a diversion into neighbouring Uzbekistan. A much-needed change of scene, in a fascinating part of the world has left me with plenty of food for thought. Also enjoying hearing about customers’ travels and making mental notes for future trips.
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