"Especially in this climate, in this time, bookstores are very hopeful," said Toni Chappell, owner of Fiction: A Novel Bookshop in Wiscasset, Maine. "People opening bookstores and people coming to bookshops are such important, hopeful things to be happening. I feel like it's a really positive thing I can do out in the world."
Chappell opened Fiction in late March. Despite the name, it is a general-interest bookstore, with more than just fiction represented. In addition to fiction and nonfiction, Chappell said the store offers a "healthy poetry selection," cookbooks, a small children's section, and titles pertaining to nature and the environment.
Fiction's gift and nonbook options include greeting cards, candles, laser-cut puzzles, and a smattering of home goods, but Chappell noted that it's "not a place you'd walk into and think it's anything other than a bookstore."
When it comes to events, Chappell said her goal is to "bring writers and readers together." Since opening on March 29, the store has hosted one book club, which featured a local author's book and was done in partnership with a local soup shop. The store's first author event is planned for the end of June and will coincide with the Wiscasset Art Walk. Looking ahead, Chappell intends to host more local author events and readings and "support anybody in the community that wants to do book clubs."
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The bookstore spans about 1,000 square feet, including a small office area in the back, at 49 Water St., in a building overlooking the Sheepscot River that dates back to 1797. She noted that the building was originally a ship's chandlery, and at that time Wiscasset was one of the largest ports north of Boston.
The building remained in use in various ways well after Wiscasset's fortunes changed, and was a hardware store at one time. The building has a "great historic energy," Chappell said, and she is pleased that it's a place "people have always come to."
Prior to opening Fiction, Chappell had no experience in bookselling. She was a journalist in the late '80s and '90s before homeschooling her kids "and doing other things here and there." Recently she completed an MA and PhD in creative writing in England. Ultimately, the "biggest hit on my résumé for being a bookseller is being a book lover," Chappell said.
As for how long she's wanted to open a bookstore, Chappell remarked that "all writers, somewhere in the back of their mind, think it would be great to have a bookstore," though she never thought of it as "something that will really happen." Studying in England provided ample opportunity to attend book festivals like the Hay Festival in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, and Chappell often thought, "wouldn't it be cool to have a boutique bookshop?"
During the pandemic Chappell was "stuck over in England," and after completing her PhD decided to relocate back to the U.S. to live closer to family. She moved to Maine "because it's kind of catnip for writers," and primarily she wanted to write.
Fiction went from idea to opening very quickly, and stemmed from a conversation Chappell had with a friend. Chappell mentioned how much she loved English bookshops, and her friend told not only that she should do it but that she also had an ideal spot in mind. Chappell's friend contacted the building's landlord, and the landlord called Chappell. Fiction was open five months later.
"As soon as it was an idea voiced out loud, things started rolling," Chappell recalled. "Every door opened that needed to open. I like to say that the bookstore opened me."
Chappell called Fiction "a bookshop that the community built." In addition to her friend who got the ball rolling, other friends helped her paint furniture, build shelves, and alphabetize stacks, while her daughters, whom she referred to as her "not so silent partners," helped unpack and shelve books.
Having no prior experience in bookselling, she learned much from experienced booksellers, including Kenny Brechner of Devaney, Doak & Garrett Booksellers; Stephanie Valdez of Community Bookstore and Terrace Books; and Margie Wilson of Grand Valley Books.
The bookshop had been open for about three weeks before Independent Bookstore Day, and though it was a "really rainy day," there were plenty of shoppers who had already visited two or three bookstores that day. The fact there were so many people committed to indie bookstores moved her "almost to the point of tears." --Alex Mutter