May 2021
It is with excitement, confidence and sadness that I announce that the Northshire Bookstores are passing out of Morrow ownership. 
 
I started the process of selling the stores before Covid, but the pandemic reinforced that the time was right for me to move onto other things. When thinking about selling, my main worry was always finding someone (or two) who had the right sensibilities as well as the chops; someone who appreciated The Book, the art of bookselling and our amazing staff and who also had the background, energy, vision and resources to carry the bookstores into future decades. Amazingly, my first conversation led to today’s announcement. Clark and Lu French of Manchester, VT are the new owners of Northshire Bookstores. 
 
My parents started the original store in September of 1976. We lived in a dark apartment underneath the bookstore. I was 9. While the ladder leading to the trap door in the floor of the service desk area was very cool, I was not coaxed into bookselling full time until 1998. It was just for a couple of years to help my parents with an expansion… And here we are 23 years later. 
 
Perhaps it is fitting that I am at a loss for words, given how many words we have shepherded from soul to soul over the decades. What is bookselling without paradox, irony, humor, hope and fear, and a whole lotta hard work? The books that have lived in the stores are so varied and numerous, like a beach with each grain of sand a different color. But, as I sit here letting memories flow over me, it is the people I am most grateful for - the amazing colleagues who have worked at the bookstores, the inspirational authors who have convened with us in Manchester and Saratoga, the kindred souls at other bookstores and at publishing houses, and the generations of guests who have made all this possible for us. What a beautiful adventure! I am grateful to all of you - thank you!
 
In the midst of Covid last summer I received a letter from a customer which started, “Over the last 45 years your bookstore has been both a salvation and inspiration for our family.” We have tried our best to live up to the highest standards of independent bookselling and to serve the communities that have supported our mission. It has been an honor. 
 
My last request is that you welcome Clark and Lu into the Northshire family and support them as they make the bookstores even better in the coming years. 
 
With gratitude,
Chris Morrow
When we opened the doors of the Northshire Bookstore on Main Street, in September of 1976, we couldn’t have imagined that it would become one of the many institutions that distinguish this corner of Vermont. We have gone through countless transitions and challenges to arrive at this point. And now, our family is transitioning again. 
 
This is a bittersweet watershed event for us to be sure, but one we are confident will be seamless and beneficial to the welfare of the bookstore and its service to the several marvelous communities it serves…the communities of Manchester and Saratoga, the community of book-loving visitors who continue to support us from their homes, near and far away, the community of publishers with whom we labor to connect author and reader, and our vast community of authors, who provide us with the riches we endeavor to share. Without the support of these various communities the Northshire Bookstore would not have prospered and grown to its current place in the world of books. 
 
We feel confident that we are passing the store’s stewardship into good and competent hands. Clark and Lu have been longtime patrons and supporters of the Northshire. They are book-knowledgeable, community-oriented, long-time residents, and have proven business and leadership acumen. Most importantly to us, they have a deep appreciation for the existing team of booksellers whose experience and institutional knowledge is irreplaceable, and who are well prepared to see the bookstore through its next few decades of growth and service to the community we love. 
 
We are eminently grateful to all of you for your support and caring these many years and to know that all your book needs will continue to be met in this wonderful community. 
 
Gratefully,
Ed & Barbara Morrow
Since 1976 the Northshire Bookstore has been one of our community’s most important cultural and business institutions. It has fostered a love of reading, knowledge and discourse while offering the area’s finest retail shopping experiences, both in Manchester and in Saratoga Springs. 
 
Throughout our many years as Manchester residents, we have been loyal patrons of the bookstore and admirers of its founders, the Morrow family. As this beloved family-owned business approaches its 45th Anniversary, we are thrilled and honored to become its next stewards. We are also committed to continuing the legacy and high standards the Morrows have cultivated over their long tenure.
 
Our family has been fortunate over the years to be involved in many exciting area ventures, including the Taconic Hotel and the recent restoration of the former Mark Skinner Library building. We have experienced the value of community engagement first hand by serving as board members of local institutions, such as the Manchester Community Library and Burr and Burton Academy. 
 
The Northshire Bookstore is a significant local landmark and a vital community center. This conviction and our family’s life-long love of reading and our passion for book collecting are what drew us to this endeavor. Equally important to us is the bookstores’ dedicated staff. We value their decades of expertise in creating an unparalleled retail experience and are grateful for their guidance as we begin this exciting new chapter. 
 
The Northshire is more than a bookstore to us. It’s a vibrant gathering and shopping venue where memories are made and discovery is encouraged. Supporting and nurturing this enriching experience is our highest priority. We are sincerely grateful to the Morrow family for trusting us with their life’s work and welcome the opportunity to continue their legacy for many years to come.
 
Clark & Lu French
Virtual Events from Northshire Bookstore
For a complete schedule, click here

Northshire Live Virtual Events are ticketed. If the cost of an event ticket is prohibitive for you, e-mail us at events@northshire.com to inquire about a scholarship.
Join Northshire Bookstore to celebrate the US publication of Milli Hill's Give Birth Like a Feminist. Hill will be interviewed by Vermont midwife Rebecca Price-Wood, clinical director of Sacred Transitions Midwifery. Birth is the feminist issue no one is talking about. For too long women have been told, "a healthy baby is all that matters." This book dares to say women matter too.
Author and scholar Emma Smith will present her electrifying new study This is Shakesepare, a book that focuses on revealing--not resolving--the ambiguities in the Bard’s. Marcus Dean Fuller, Executive and Creative Director of Saratoga Shakespeare Company will interview Smith about the book.
To celebrate the publication of her latest volume, Snakes and Babies, Jules Gibbs will join us for a virtual poetry reading with Northshire staff favorite Rachel Eliza Griffiths, author of Seeing the Body.
Welcome award winning author and New Yorker staff writer Tony Hiss to Northshire for a very special virtual conversation with Vermont’s own Bill McKibben about Rescuing the Planet: Protecting Half the Land to Heal the Earth. This event is presented with support from Saratoga PLAN.
Northshire Bookstore and GMALL are proud to present an evening with Governor Madeleine May Kunin on the publication of her debut poetry collection, Red Kite, Blue Sky, in a virtual conversation with Northshire’s co-founder Barbara Morrow.
May Featured Release

A lone astronaut must save the earth from disaster in this incredible new science-based thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Martian.

“A novel that would have delighted Robert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov.”— George R.R. Martin

“Weir’s finest work to date . . . the one book I read last year that I am certain I can recommend to anyone, no matter who, and know they’ll love it.”
— Brandon Sanderson

"I absolutely loved Project Hail Mary the latest novel by Andy Weir, author of The Martian. Humanity is on the brink of a mass extinction and only one crew member remains on a long shot mission to save Earth. But Dr. Grace is not your typical astronaut; instead he is a junior high school science teacher who wakes on the ship to find he is the lone survivor of the crew with no memory of who he is or why he is there. As his memory returns he begins to understand the scope of the puzzle he must solve and he learns the importance of friendship." ~ Reviewed by Ben Parker

Pre-order Highlight

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient comes a spellbinding tale of psychological suspense, weaving together Greek mythology, murder, and obsession, that further cements “Michaelides as a major player in the field.”

Edward Fosca is a murderer. Of this Mariana is certain. But Fosca is untouchable. A handsome and charismatic Greek tragedy professor at Cambridge University, Fosca is adored by staff and students alike—particularly by the members of a secret society of female students known as The Maidens.

Mariana Andros is a brilliant but troubled group therapist who becomes fixated on The Maidens when one member, a friend of Mariana’s niece Zoe, is found murdered in Cambridge.

Mariana, who was once herself a student at the university, quickly suspects that behind the idyllic beauty of the spires and turrets, and beneath the ancient traditions, lies something sinister. And she becomes convinced that, despite his alibi, Edward Fosca is guilty of the murder. But why would the professor target one of his students? And why does he keep returning to the rites of Persephone, the maiden, and her journey to the underworld?

When another body is found, Mariana’s obsession with proving Fosca’s guilt spirals out of control, threatening to destroy her credibility as well as her closest relationships. But Mariana is determined to stop this killer, even if it costs her everything—including her own life.

New Fiction on our Shelves
New Nonfiction on our Shelves
New Paperbacks on our Shelves
From our own Shires Press

Writer Liza Ketchum invites the reader on a gardener's personal journey that begins and ends in Vermont. In settings as varied as the Adirondacks, a New York suburb, coastal Florida and Oxfordshire, England, she profiles the gardeners-mostly women, but occasionally men-whose techniques and wisdom influenced Liza's life in the garden. These early relationships shaped the gardens she created in a high mountain town; in a pocket-sized city yard surrounded by concrete; and finally, in The Last Garden of this memoir. Readers will meet members of Liza's family, as well as memorable gardeners such as Nancy Lancaster (famed for her English Country Garden style), fine artist Arthur Jones, and organic gardener and educator Helen Haskell. Liza shares the ways that gardens have provided beauty, comfort and inspiration throughout her life, during periods of change, loss, and renewal. Bobbi Angell's detailed, monochrome drawings illustrate the specific plants that trigger memories of Liza's life in the garden.

New Releases from our Children's Department
Order online at www.northshire.com
Manchester Center, VT
open to the public and for curbside delivery
Daily 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.


Starting May 27th:
10am to 7pm

4869 Main Street
Manchester Center, VT 05255
Saratoga Springs, NY
open to the public, for curbside pickup,
and for home delivery with 9 Miles East
Daily 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Starting May 28th:
Sunday-Thursday 10-7 pm
Friday/Saturday 10-9 pm

424 Broadway
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
Thank you for supporting Independent Bookselling!
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