Doncaster author's 'dream come true' after novel goes on sale at world's most famous bookshop

Melanie Hewitt described it as a ‘dream come true’ after learning that her book Looking For The Durrells is now being stocked by Shakespeare and Company in Paris.

The book lovers’ emporium, which allows writers and authors to stay and sleep among the shelves of books, has welcomed the likes of best selling novelists including Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jack Kerouac, ­Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Durrell and Anaïs Nin over the decades.

It was also the first place to publish the entirety of James Joyce’s “Ulysses” when no one else would.

Said Melanie: “It feels a bit overwhelming but it is a dream come true. I cried a little.

“My dad would have loved this bless him – I’m still pinching myself.”

The iconic bookstore, opened in 1951 on Paris’s Left Bank and has welcomed some of the world’s most famous authors as well as serving as a purveyor of new and second-hand books, as an antiquarian bookseller, and as a free reading library open to the public.

More than 30,000 people have slept in beds tucked between the bookshelves, including globetrotting Monty Python star Sir Michael Palin who dropped in whilst filming his Hemingway Adventure series, following in the foosteps of the acclaimed author.

Added Melanie: “I never imagined for a second that my own novel would be on their shelves.

"It’s the world’s most famous and my favourite bookshop. Never give up writers - I dreamt of writing a book for decades. I truly know it’s not easy, but keep at it, believe.”

The store began stocking Melanie’s book thanks to her son Geoff who was rewarded with a stamped copy of the book and photos of it nestling on the shelves.

The novel, set on the isle of Corfu, was released last summer and tells the fictional story of the famous Durrell family, now immortalised in a TV series.

Melanie from Branton has enjoyed a life long love affair with the family.

She said: “My dad gave me a copy of ‘My Family and Other Animals’ when I was just 13 years old.

“I remember it well. It was a rainy afternoon in Doncaster

“The book transported me to the magical land of Corfu.”

But it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that her novel took shape.

She was dining at one of her favourite restaurants on Corfu when she started thinking ‘what if the Durrells were still here today?’

“A character named Penny filled my mind,” Melanie said.

“A woman has an adventure on Corfu on a sort of pilgrimage.

“She has just lost her father and broken off an engagement and sets off to find what happened to the Durrell family in the wake of her life events.”

The book follows Penny on her journey of self discovery as she uncovers facts and secrets about the family.

The former journalist is now penning her second book – and is planning a trip to Paris to see the book on the shelves at Shakespeare and Company.

She ha also been invited back to the Corfu Literary Festival on Corfu in September to chair the event after discussing the book at last year’s event.

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