In this extraordinary standalone from the no.1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The City of Stardust, a disgraced bookseller is offered the chance to restore a magical bookshop to its former glory, and enters a dark underworld of unscrupulous collectors, deadly ink magic and shady societies.
If you want a story that will change your life, Chiron’s bookshop is where you go. For those lucky enough to grace its doors, it’s a glimpse into a world of deadly bargains and powerful, magical books.
For Cassandra Fairfax, it’s a reminder of everything she lost, when Chiron kicked her out and all but shuttered the shop. Since then, she’s used her skills in less . . . ethical ways, trading stolen books and magical readings to wealthy playboys looking for power money can’t buy.
Then Chiron dies. And if Cassandra knows anything, it’s this: the bookshop must always have an owner.
To restore the shop, she’ll need the help of Lowell Sharpe, a rival bookseller who is everything Cassandra is not – and knows it, too.
But as she is plunged into a world of unscrupulous collectors, deadly ink magic and shady societies, a dark force threatens to unravel the bookshops entirely . . .
Coming November 2025 from Hodderscape & Orbit US
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Praise for The Bookshop Below
‘Georgia Summers’s magical bookshop is my new favorite place. It may be fraught and deadly, and even a little seedy—as flawed as Cassandra Fairfax, its hesitant new owner—but the mystery and danger are part of its charm. The Bookshop Below is a delicious read, I loved every second of it, but can it please be real? Thank you! ;-)’
Laini Taylor, Sunday Times bestselling author of Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Strange the Dreamer
‘Steeped in bookish magic and infused with the comfort and terror of a favourite tragic fairytale, The Bookshop Below is darkly whimsical and utterly heartwrenching’
V. L. Bovalino, bestselling author of The Second Death of Locke
‘Rich, dark and romantic, The Bookshop Below is a must read for everyone who believes in the magic of books’
M.A. Kuzniar, bestselling author of Midnight in Everwood
‘A love letter to the power of words, for both good and evil. I devoured this story and adored the taste of ink, romance, and magic in every page!’
Catelyn Wilson, author of All the Devils
‘Georgia Summers’ unique literary magic system (and exceptional literary romance!) bewitched me. The Bookshop Below is lavish, beguiling, and altogether the sort of enchanted book you’d expect to find in the shadowy corner of a curious shop’
Sylvie Cathrall, author of A Letter to the Luminous Deep
‘Summers offers a grimly cozy novel, filled with enchanted books and well-rounded characters. The prose is immersive, and the settings entrancing. Give it to readers who love character-driven stories of magical bookstores and libraries’
Library Journal, starred review
‘For all the book-lovers out there, all the dreamers who wish for their own bookstore, who feel that there’s a magical connection to books themselves… get The Bookshop Below onto your stack ASAP. A classic adventure story with mysterious shady organizations and magical books & bookstores and slow-burning romance. Between this and The City of Stardust, Summers is staking her claim as one of the great joyful-fantasy novelists. It’ll make you happy’
LitHub
Georgia Summers 