The Booksellers Association has today announced The Well of Saint Nobody by Neil Jordan as Fiction Book of the Month, and Nowhere Island by Tania Unsworth as Children’s Book of the Month for August.    
 
Independent bookshops around the UK and Ireland will be promoting The Well of Saint Nobody and Nowhere Island throughout August on social media and in-store. The Booksellers Association will be supporting the promotion of the Indie Books of the Month through social media and promotional material.

The Well of Saint Nobody follows the story of William Barrow who finds himself in lonely retirement in West Cork. Once an internationally renowned pianist, a terrible skin disease has attacked his hands and made it impossible for him to perform. Tara is a piano teacher with barely enough pupils to pay the month’s rent. She begins to work in William’s house, keeping to herself the knowledge that they have met three times before. When William stumbles upon a well in the back garden, Tara finds herself longing for revenge. She spins tales of a mythical saint, of the healing powers of the water and of the moss that surrounds it. But as the moss begins to heal William’s troubled hands, the lines between legend and reality begin to blur, and past and present collide in unexpected ways. The Well of Saint Nobody is published by Bloomsbury.
 
Neil Jordan, author of The Well of Saint Nobody, commented: “I love to browse a bookstore, but an independent one best of all. Where else can you find what you didn’t know you wanted?”
 
Nowhere Island is based on an island full of secrets. Four runaways – five, including Junk, the dog – are hiding out here, relying on the man-made world that speeds around them. Wild, silent Pez, who has escaped from a mysterious cult, criminal mastermind Riley, his gentle brother Grayson, and orphaned Gil with his lucky pebble and a head full of dreams. They’re searching for safety, but just when they think they’ve found it, they witness something that puts them in deadly danger… Nowhere Island is published by Zephyr.
 
Tania Unsworth, author of Nowhere Island, commented: “What I like most about independent bookshops is their generosity of spirit. Here, reading is an experience to be shared, where books are loved and deeply thought about. That’s why buying from an independent bookshop is no ordinary purchase. For me, it feels like receiving a gift.”
 
The Indie Book of the Month titles are selected by panels of booksellers from publisher submissions. The Children’s panel for August comprised members from Booka Bookshop; Norfolk Children’s Book Centre; Owl & Pyramid; Suddenly on Sheaf Street; Heron & Willow and Chestnut Books. The Fiction panel were from The Wee Bookshop; Hold Fast Books; The Stripey Badger Bookshop; The Orcadian; The Rabbit Hole and Four Bears Books. The titles were also available to be voted on by all participating bookshops on Edelweiss.
 
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