Ep 85: Secrets on the Shelves: Sarah Clutton on The Bookshop of Buried Pasts

Hi friends, When I renewed my vows earlier this year, I wrapped up books as gifts for our guests, each with a little mystery blurb on the front. On *The Remarkable Truths of Alfie Baines*, I simply wrote: *my favourite book of 2025*. So you can imagine how excited we were to sit down with its author, Sarah Clutton, to talk about her new novel. Even better, Sarah is joining our Book Club to discuss it with members. **The book** *The Bookshop of Buried Pasts* opens with Phyllida Banks, 80 years old and adored in the little Southern Highlands village of Brookbank, where her antiquarian bookshop is the heart of everything. When Phyllida is suddenly gone, her granddaughter Lottie finds a letter asking her to track down someone called Frances, and a fortune no one can explain. The trail leads all the way to Cambridgeshire, to another village bookshop with eerie similarities to their own, and to a mystery that has baffled police for fifty years. It made us both wonder: what wild things did our nanas get up to that we’ll never know about? We loved Phyllida. She’s curious, wise and endlessly interested in people, the kind of 80-year-old we’d all want to be friends with. Chelle fell for Sienna, a 13-year-old firecracker who keeps every conversation on its toes. And if, like Chelle, you hunt down any book set in a bookshop, this one’s for you. The bookshop itself even narrates the opening and closing chapters. A small tip: there are a few timelines and points of view, so give it a few chapters to settle in. Once it clicks, it’s a warm, funny, hopeful mystery that’s hard to put down. **From our conversation** Sarah lives in Berrima, in a region that was Australia’s first book town. She spent months sitting with the late antiquarian book dealer Leo Berkelouw while helping with his memoir, which is how Phyllida came to be a book dealer. In early drafts, Sarah told us, Phyllida “wasn’t someone who just retires”, and once she became a book dealer the whole story fell into place. Phyllida is based on Sarah’s own grandmother, who could make three new friends on a two-hour train trip. Phyllida also has “the knowing”, a deep intuition passed down from her herbalist grandmother. That led to a lovely conversation about how often women are taught to override their gut feelings, and Chelle shared how much it meant to see that represented on the page. And our favourite moment? Sarah told us why she writes: “I just wanted to roll in the heather and have ginger beer and go on a mystery... That’s what I like to try to recreate for adults.” - Sarah Clutton Audiobook lovers: Annabelle Tudor’s narration is spectacular. She voices everyone from an 80-year-old Phyllida to a posh Englishwoman. **Read along with us** *The Bookshop of Buried Pasts* is our Book Club pick, and Sarah is joining members for a discussion where spoilers are finally allowed. One member has already emailed to say she *did not like* a certain character, and we can’t wait to unpack that with Sarah. Book my spot Happy reading,Leanne & Chelle This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit betweenthelinesaustralia.substack.com