Pirates, passion & protesting BOOKSELLER'S RIP-ROARING ADVENTURES

Wee Bookshop owner Ruth Shaw has led a wild, novel-worthy life!

- Emma Clifton

When Ruth Shaw started her first Wee Bookshop out the W back of her and husband Lance's home in Manapouri, it was only supposed to be a retirement hobby.

Both in their 70s, she and Lance had very different ideas of what retirement was supposed to look like. Within weeks, it was clear that this hobby was going to be more like a full-time job. Now aged 75, Ruth has just released her first book, a memoir titled The Bookseller at the End of the World.

The first Wee Bookshop was small enough to sit on their property without requiring a building permit, and the gypsy-caravan look of it - plus the great selection of books - made it a hotspot for tourists and locals alike. Manapouri sits on the edge of Fiordland and it's beautiful in its own right.

Now, a charming and colourful adult bookshop, children's bookshop, and "a snug" sit on the property, receiving a constant flow of visitors from spring to autumn each year.

The shop bell is taken from Breaksea Girl, the boat Ruth and Lance used to run tours on, and it's rung frequently by eager book buyers when they arrive in the shop.

Ruth and/or Lance, who have been together 30 years and married for 11, are always ready to come out, offer a book recommendation, some wisdom and maybe a cup of tea or two.

As you would imagine, these wee bookshops attract a clientele that's as colourful as they are and funny little snapshots of their customers are interspersed throughout Ruth's Bookseller memoir. But if you're expecting a mild-mannered book about, well, books, you'd be wrong.