… that cost just £4, can be easily repaired, and that matches two you already have.

Space for books was a problem when I moved out of London, because when I came home for a while I soon realised that I had to stay to support my mother as she grew older. Every bookcase was full to bursting point when my collection was added to hers, and there were books in the attic, books in boxes, books pretty much everywhere.

My mother bought the first bamboo bookcase and I soon filled it up with a wonderful mix of books.

My fiance found the second, in the same design but a fair bit bigger. It was a wonderful piece of luck – he was passing by as somebody was putting it out on the pavement, free to anybody who would give it a good home. That bookcase is now home to my collection of Virago Modern Classics. They’re double-banked and a few are horizontal on the tops of shelves, but they’re all in, and it’s been wonderful to have them all together and all easy to pull out.

And now he has found a third, smaller but again a perfect match. Isn’t he clever?! My Persephone books were in a rather inaccessible corner upstairs, but now I’ve been able to bring them all downstairs. It’s lovely to be able to see them all clearly, and I even have half a shelf free for the collection to grow.

So now the room in the middle of our long narrow house has a door to the kitchen, an aga, table and chairs, a dresser, and four bookcases. It’s cluttered, but it’s home. What more do you need?!

Just a green bed, so that Briar is comfortable when she is on duty guarding the books!