Meet The Owner of Wave of Nostalgia, The Winner of Independent Bookshop of The Year For The North
Here's one for the books
A bright pop of colour in the heart of Haworth, passers-by can’t help but be drawn to Wave of Nostalgia, a quaint bookshop only a stone’s throw from the famous Brontë Parsonage Museum. But it’s what’s inside that’s truly magical and has earned the bookshop the prestigious title of Independent Bookshop of The Year for the North.
‘I have three main focuses and they are strong women, LGBTQ+ and conservation because those are the things that I’m passionate about,’ Diane says. ‘I curate the books, I’m choosing them all and if I don’t love it, it doesn’t get in the shop.’
‘All of the products we sell in the shop are made by strong
women with their own businesses. The candles, the T-shirts,
the pencils – they’re supporting us and we’re supporting them’
Having total control over the store, from which authors are stocked right down to how the shelves are arranged, is part of the bookshop’s charm. ‘The displays are beautiful. I really make sure that nothing is in alphabetical order at all but that they’re aesthetically pleasing to look at. We let people get on with it, but if they want some help then we’re on hand,’ explains Diane.
‘It means I can really home in on those things that I care about and I pull that through the children’s books as well. It’s all inclusive stuff like The Pirate Mums. I try to find things that are a little bit different.’
The care Diane has taken with Wave of Nostalgia has struck a chord with locals and tourists alike. ‘From the community the response has been great because they’ve been crying out for a bookshop. There were secondhand bookshops but not a new bookshop. I feel it’s the literary capital of the country and the Brontë wrote the best three books ever written if you ask me,’ she says. For Diane, achieving the award was the cherry on the cake. ’It’s got to be one of the best moments in my business. What an accolade and how wonderful!
‘It’s a professional award run by people within the business. To apply, you have to do 1,000 words telling them why you’re great and why you should win, which is hard in itself. You get through to a shortlist (which we have done for the last three years, and we’ve only been a bookshop for three years so we feel really proud of that). When you’re shortlisted, you do another 1,000 words. There are so many fantastic independent bookshops in the North, it’s a really difficult category to be in.’
up shop. ‘I’m inspired by the Brontë obviously, and the community is great. All those little independent shops in Haworth support each other and are there for each other all the time – everybody knows everybody by name,’ she says. ‘There’s an artisan market at the park, there’s bands and choirs and Morris men. Every weekend there’s something happening. If you work together you can achieve so much.
‘All of the products we sell in the shop are made by strong women with their own businesses. The candles, the T-shirts, the pencils – they’re supporting us and we’re supporting them.’
With that support, there’s no stopping Diane as she forges ahead. ‘Myself and Clavis & Claustra, which is one of the first suppliers that we had, are hosting four sessions over four months about how to start a feminist business so we can help other people,’ she says. Diane plans on hosting plenty of author-led events, growing her already popular bookclub, expanding her quarterly literary goodie boxes to more people and ensuring that more people can take part in anything Wave of Nostalgia is up to via Zoom. ‘There’s a real camaraderie going on and it’s lovely.’
Read More: Meet the Owners Behind Whitley Bay's Best Antique Bookshop, Keel Row Books
What’s your favourite hidden gem in the area?
The Railway Children Walk.
Do you have a favourite author?
Anne Brontë.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Believe in yourself.
