Books are back on Bay Street

Wed, Apr 9th 2014, 08:19 PM

BAHAMIAN BOOKS ARE BACK ON BAY - Books about Bahamian history, lore and more are back in historic Nassau, thanks to the opening of The Book Nook inside The Linen Shop. Creation of the reading corner was inspired by shop owners Gloria Raine, left, and Heather White, who started going through a copy of Bahamian Jottings, written by their late grandmother who opened the store, then called Johnstone's, 68 years ago. They had the book reprinted in time for this Sunday's formal re-launch and unveiling. (Photo by Derek Smith, Jr., for DPA) 68 Years Later, The Linen Shop Celebrates Re-launch with Book Nook & More
NASSAU, Bahamas -- Nearly seven decades after it opened its doors selling pure Irish linens, The Linen Shop is celebrating its re-launch, bringing back to Bay Street the first book store in the downtown area in more than five years.
Inspiration for The Book Nook inside the shop that has become a staple in historic Nassau with its heavy wooden trim painted a deep forest green came from one of the owners finding a copy of a book of poetry and prose by the shop's original owner, her late grandmother, Wilhelmina Johnstone.
Bahamian Jottings had been out of print for some time, said Heather White, who with her sister-in-law Gloria Raine, has held on to the traditions of high quality goods in a street increasingly given over to t-shirts and souvenirs.
"When I started going through an old copy of the matriarch of the family's writings, it was so moving," said Mrs. White. "Her way of telling what it was like to live in The Bahamas when the hardships were as plentiful as the sun just gave us chills."
White and Raine said it was like a light bulb.

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