The Bookseller at the End of the World

‘An extraordinary story.’ Shaun Bythell, The Diary of a Bookseller

Ruth Shaw weaves together stories of the characters who visit her bookshops, musings about favourite books, and bittersweet stories from her full and varied life.

She’s sailed through the Pacific for years, been held up by pirates, worked at Sydney’s Kings Cross with drug addicts and prostitutes, campaigned on numerous environmental issues, and worked the yacht Breaksea Girl with her husband, Lance.

Underlining all her wanderings and adventures are some very deep losses and long-held pain. Balancing that out is her beautiful love story with Lance, and her delightful sense of humour.

This will make you weep and make you laugh and make you want to read more books – and make you want to visit Ruth and her two wee bookshops.

‘Shaw’s writing is pragmatic and restrained; her voice is so strong and assured that when grief appears you gasp at its intrusion and your heart stops a second.’ Alexa Dretzke, Readings Hawthorn

‘Amazing!’ Jack Tame, Newstalk ZB

‘A fascinating, funny and moving story.’ Nicky Pellegrino, New Zealand Woman’s Weekly

‘Shaw can write about these peaks and troughs [of her life] without a skerrick of maudlin introspection or mawkishness. Battered and emotionally bruised, she marches on. In a word, dauntless, and it’s exactly this quality that makes this memoir so readable.’ Chris Moore, NZ Listener

‘Utterly charming and filled with equal measures of heartbreak and humour, Ruth Shaw’s memoir will have you booking the first flight to New Zealand to share a cup of tea at her Wee Bookshops. Shaw has been a cook, a nurse, sailor and world traveller, and endured immeasurable loss. But with Lance, the love of her life, Shaw has found her place bookselling in Fiordland.‘Booksellers’ Choice Australia

‘Compelling. Shaw tells her own story free of over-sentimentality or self-pity; she’s straightforward, frequently humorous… Her resilience, optimism and willingness to help others is to be admired; her remarkable story is to be read and reflected upon as it adds another vital perspective to a NZ life.’ Dionne Christian, Sunday Star Times

Author Biography

Ruth Shaw runs a cluster of wee bookshops in remote Manapōuri in the far south of New Zealand. She lives with her husband, Lance. In 2022 she published her first memoir, The Bookseller at the End of the World, which has since become a critically acclaimed national and international treasure. It has been translated into Italian, Dutch, German, Turkish, Chinese, Swedish, Russian, Slovakian, Korean, Spanish and Arabic. Her second book Bookshop Dogs came out in October 2023, and instantly became a NZ bestseller. The second part of her memoir Three Wee Bookshops at the End of the World is published in 2025.