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A New Start After 60: Woman Fulfills Dream Of Opening Her Own Bookshop

July 21, 2021

A woman in Somerset, England, has fulfilled her lifelong dream of working in her very own bookshop.

AT 65 years old, Carole-Ann Warburton handed in her notice at work and opened The Book Rest on West Street. She filled it with over 8,000 books she's collected over her lifetime.

She began buying books in college – a habit that, in adult life, yielded a hoard.

"Our house was absolutely chock-a-block," Warburton told The Guardian. "Most rooms had boxes of books and bookshelves of books. We had a four-bedroomed house and all the rooms consisted of small walkway passages between piles of books."

Her three daughters "hated it".

This year, The Book Rest celebrates its 10th anniversary.

"I am so happy standing here in the middle of a pile of books," she said. "I can walk around the shop, pick up a book and sit down and read it … I would like to keep doing this until I no longer can. It's a wonderful feeling. Someone can walk in tomorrow and say: 'I have been looking for that for an awfully long time!'"