Chapter Thirty-Nine
Grace didn’t want to wait until the next book club meeting to speak to the others, so she invited the members, along with Rosie and Jude to The Lodge the following Friday evening – under the pretext of celebrating how well Desert Island Reads had gone down on socials.
‘I love this place. How come I’m the ex-rock star, but you’re the one with the ultra-cool gaff?’ said Crush. She pointed up at the underside of the piano. ‘Was that here last time I came over?’
‘Yes,’ said Grace. ‘Does it seem a bit pretentious?’ Grace couldn’t bear to think her new friends would look at her differently now they’d been to The Lodge. She felt the urge to get out the old photos of the terraced house she grew up in.
‘Nah, man, it’s cool. Do you play?’
Grace relaxed. ‘Frank did, a little, and Rosie had lessons when she was growing up.’
‘I was, and remain, shit at it,’ said Rosie. ‘But it was great for writing angst-ridden love songs in my teens.’
‘We should do a duet later,’ said Crush.
Slack-jawed, Rosie shook her head. ‘How is this my life? Duetting with the bassist from Parker was not on my bingo card.’
‘You’re funny, man,’ said Crush, looking both amused and slightly baffled.
‘This is mad,’ said Jude, staring at his phone screen with a huge grin on his face. ‘I’m watching the numbers and Crush’s interview’s got a hundred more likes in the last minute.’ He shook his head. ‘Two hundred, now. This is mental.’
‘What about everyone else?’ said Crush, tugging her bottom lip between her teeth. ‘I didn’t want this to be all about me, sorry guys.’ She scanned the group with an apologetic grimace, but they were too busy crowding around Jude’s phone to notice.
Jude tapped his finger on the screen. ‘They’re not far behind at all. Seriously, this is huge. All of them have taken off. Have you seen the comments?’
‘Kit de Waal commented on mine,’ said Lee, standing tall, his face brighter than Grace had ever seen it.
‘She thanked me for talking about My Name is Leon so eloquently. Kit de Waal knows who I am, and she called me eloquent. I can’t get my head around it.
’ He slapped his legs in pure joy and Grace wanted to give him a hug.
He just needed a bit of attention, poor lad.
Now he was getting it, and he was blooming because he had a little bit of sunshine at last.
‘Sit down everyone and help yourself to wine and nibbles.’ She’d put white and red wine on the table in anticipation of their arrival and bought olives and artisan crisps and dips from the deli next to Books En Parade.
When she stood back to admire her handiwork, the candles flickered, and the lights strung across the trees outside combined the inside and outside just as Frank intended.
The scene sparkled much like the bright fluttering in her stomach.
‘The Bookseller’s been in touch with me,’ said Crush when everyone was seated and had a full glass in front of them. ‘They want me to do a piece on silent book clubs at independent bookshops.’
‘Are you going to do it?’ said Harry. ‘Given how you feel about interviews?’
‘This feels different,’ said Crush. ‘They didn’t even mention Parker in the email.
They want to know about my business and our book club, not salacious gossip or clickbaity headlines like “abandoned girl makes good”, so I reckon I will.
I mean, The Bookseller’s the bible for people like me, so it would be a good way to get the word out and promote the bookshop and the cause, right? ’
Grace looked across at the black and white picture of her and Frank’s wedding day. In her head she said, See what you started, my love? This is all down to you.
‘The flyers in the local libraries have gone down a storm, by the looks of things. Beckenham Bookshop has already started running their silent book club one evening a week and there’s one on a Wednesday afternoon too,’ said Rosie.
‘I popped in today and Kelly’s buzzing with it. Apparently, trade is up.’
‘I saw a message from a shop in Devon saying they’ve teamed up with the local NCT, the National Childbirth Trust, to set up a remote book club on Zoom for members who can’t get to meetings,’ said Jasmine.
Grace noticed her voice was quieter again now they were away from her workplace.
Her gaze always seemed to rest upon Jude when she finished speaking.
‘Oh, this is all magnificent,’ said Harry. ‘And you’ve become quite the internet sensation, Earnest dear chap.’ At the sound of his name, Earnest jumped up from where he’d been dozing and made his way across the room.
‘Have you seen the hashtag, Read with Earnest?’ said Jude. ‘It’s really taken off. That was a brainwave, Jasmine.’ He grinned at her.
‘Read with Earnest. I love it.’ Harry picked the cat up and raised his chin, laughing as Earnest patted at his face with his paws.
‘I think Frank would be proud of us,’ said Tracy. ‘The word’s certainly out there, and I reckon there’ll be hundreds of silent book clubs springing up because of him, and hopefully independent bookshops will be getting a boost too.’
‘A couple of big-name authors have been in touch, offering to do events,’ said Crush. ‘One even said she’d do it for free if we needed to raise funds.’
‘We don’t need funds, do we?’ said Tracy, shoving a crisp with a huge dollop of hummus into her mouth, then covering it with her hand and chewing quickly before carrying on, ‘As long as everyone puts their quid in at book club, the costs of the utilities are covered, right?’ She turned her attention to Crush, who nodded.
‘True,’ said Lee. ‘But it might not hurt to have a fund for readers who can’t afford their own books.’
‘Yes, but that’s what libraries are for, and authors still get paid when their books are borrowed from libraries,’ said Rosie.
‘A hardship fund, then,’ said Lee. ‘There’s always going to be someone in need, and if they’re a member of a group like ours, then it would be great to be able to help in a material way, wouldn’t it?’
‘Good point,’ said Rosie.
‘It could be aimed at helping people with disabilities and mental health issues and anyone who’s lonely or grieving,’ said Jasmine quietly.
‘I feel like, now we know Frank probably had ADHD, we could use any funds we raised to make people aware of what that entails and to stop people feeling ashamed of something that’s simply part of them. ’
As the rest of the group nodded, Grace’s heart swelled in her chest. She hoped Jude heard what Jasmine was saying.
It was important that he did. This lovely young woman didn’t see his condition as a liability, she saw it as just part of him, neither good nor bad.
‘In Frank’s journal, he said he wanted to raise awareness, so that would be perfect,’ she said.
‘This is getting my juices flowing,’ said Crush, her fingers dancing in front of her.
‘I love the adrenaline that comes with a new plan. Best high you can get.’ Grace was curious to know which others she’d tried, but this wasn’t the time to ask.
‘How about I contact authors and tell them we’re building a fund to support readers’ mental health. What do you think?’
‘We could ask writers, and maybe even celebrity readers, to do their own Desert Island Reads videos, and add a link to donations,’ said Harry.
‘That’s a brilliant idea,’ said Lee, pushing his glasses further up his nose.
‘We should ask book bloggers as well. They’re the ones who really influence readers and they support authors big time.
This could really work. Small charities make up more than eighty per cent of the sector, did you know that? ’
‘I did not,’ said Grace, amused to see a glimpse of the old Lee.
‘Nah, why would you? It’s not that interesting,’ he said, shaking his head at himself.
‘We could do the media if we’re planning to do bigger events,’ said Jude, glancing at Jasmine. ‘If you don’t mind working with me again?’
‘I’m up for that,’ said Jasmine. Their eyes stayed on each other’s.
‘I’m not sure Books En Parade will be a big enough venue, if we get the names I’m hoping for,’ said Crush. ‘I’m a woman on a mission. I’m thinking I could get some of my old mates from the industry to make an appearance, make it a rock and reading kinda vibe.’
‘Reading Rocks!’ said Tracy. ‘Genius.’
‘I could speak to the manager of The Bull’s Head,’ said Grace. ‘They’ve got a big function room.’
‘Sweet,’ said Crush. ‘Let’s do this thing.’
‘If we do manage to get this off the ground,’ said Grace, seeing her moment, ‘I have someone in mind who might be a worthy first recipient. I’ve asked permission to share this information with you, and she’s adamant she doesn’t want to burden anyone, but it’s Annie.’
‘Our Annie?’ said Crush.
‘Our Annie,’ said Grace, and she knew from the concern on all of their faces that Annie and Jack were already in safe hands.