Chapter 39
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
The Last Page Expands Its Business
By Isabel Claremont, The New Yorker
Everyone knows The Last Page. In the past two years, it’s been the number one literary tourist spot in New York City—outselling the litany of bookstores in the city. And it’s not just because it was featured in Taylor Swift’s newest music video.
I’ve done a lot of research on this bookstore in preparation for my interview with the owners. And the one word every journalist has used, maybe incidentally or on purpose, was “magic.”
When I visited the bookstore, I was determined to pinpoint this magic. What was the exact quality that stood out to everyone and inspired the same thought? The bookshelves? The booksellers? Maybe it was just the prime West Village location.
I hate to be coy, but the answer is that you just have to see it for yourself.
The Last Page has changed since previous owner Leo Martin’s grandson Henry has taken over.
The inaugural book fair two years ago was in efforts to save the store.
(The success of the fair and a hefty donation from New York’s literary patrons has solidified the store’s place in the city.) But the customers loved the fair so much, they’ve continued to bring it back each year with different themes.
They’ve opened a coffee shop on the second floor, renovating their attic into an entirely new event space for authors and all things literary. But recently, they’ve started offering a new kind of event.
Henry proposed to Ella Sanchez in the New York City mezzanine section of the bookstore. The two have been working closely since Henry’s taken over ownership of the store and along the way, they fell in love.
But that’s not where their story ends at The Last Page.
Although he proposed at the store, the couple wasn’t satisfied with just that.
We were sitting in Leo Martin’s old office.
They were both behind the desk, their chairs pressed against each other as if they had spent weeks apart.
Every so often, they’d look over at each other and smile, like there was an unspoken joke the other had just told.
“The Last Page is home to both of us,” Ella explained. “When I thought of my dream wedding, I thought of having it in the place we both grew up. The place where we fell in love.”
“There was really no other option,” Henry chimed in.
The two had an intimate ceremony in the newly renovated event space. Their friends, family, and every bookseller attended.
“When we posted about it online, people were asking for information on how to have their own wedding here. We had no idea that’d be of interest, but our events coordinator has always dreamed of planning weddings, so it all fell into place.
We’re excited to have more customer weddings in the store,” Ella said.
And maybe that’s where the magic lay. That The Last Page was a store customers could go to not only to escape their reality but enhance it.
Where fairytale romances could be celebrated while being surrounded by fairy tales.
They could fall in love off the page and upstairs.
Or maybe it’s something to do with the Martins.
The passion they have for the books and customers alike. And even each other.
Needless to say, The Last Page has always been, and always will be, a family business.
THE END