BOOKSELLER’S RIP-ROARING ADVENTURES
When Ruth Shaw started her first Wee Bookshop out the back of her and husband Lance’s home in Manapouri, it was only supposed to be a retirement hobby.
Both in their 70s, she and Lance had very different ideas of what retirement was supposed to look like. Within weeks, it was clear that this hobby was going to be more like a full-time job. Now aged 75, Ruth has just released her first book, a memoir titled The Bookseller at the End of the World.
‘They’re going to think twice about arresting an old woman!’
The first Wee Bookshop was small enough to sit on their property without requiring a building permit, and the gypsy-caravan look of it – plus the great selection of books – made it a hotspot for tourists and locals alike. Manapouri sits on the edge of Fiordland and
