I GOT THE JOB…

By making it. I was a freelance arts journalist writing about rare books when I noticed a lack of work by women at the fairs I visited. I used my savings to open a bookshop last November, which was really scary; if I had thought about it too much at the time I probably wouldn’t have done it.

MY TYPICAL DAY…

Starts at the shop. We’re hidden in what I think of as a secret courtyard in Soho. I’ve been holding on for dear life since we opened, and it isn’t slowing down. Social media helped us gain a following. And I love talking to my customers. Many are interested in the classics, such as Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë, but we also have unusual sections like Sisters of Sorcery – non-fiction about the occult.

Last year, we sold Jane Austen’s best friend’s copy of Sense And Sensibility for £20,000. I search high and low for books. I go to second-hand stores. I look at auction catalogues. I once found an old copy of a novel by Rebecca West at a stall in Paris that had this unusual Portuguese inscription. I looked into it and discovered it was given to a suffragette, who was also a princess, by Rebecca West herself. I stop for a sandwich around 3pm because we work shifts. In the afternoon, I might work on the details of an in-store event (a book signing or panel). I leave the shop around 6.30pm.

Dream jobs: what it’s like to sell rare books for a living