Alanah and Jeff's relationship is a true fairy tale for booklovers. Alanah testifies, "Jeff already owned Gallowglass Books when I first came into the store 2½ years ago looking for a book. We became friends over the six months it took him to nab me the books on my want list, then we were engaged within weeks after we started properly dating. We were only just married last September 1999, and our Minister coined our relationship the Booksellers' Romance! Corny, goofy, but true!"
 

If you weren't selling books, what would you be doing?
Alanah: Well, we have over 20,000 books packed into a 2,500 square foot shop, so I think we're officially "permanent" at the book biz. But we've both had very different careers from bookselling?Jeff was the manager of some lovely restaurants here in British Columbia, and I think he would have spent his life in that business under different circumstances. Sometimes I still think he dreams of owning his own five star dining experience by the sea! Who knows, maybe that could happen... if we ever retire.

As for myself, I was a social worker working with teens in trouble. It was fulfilling work in many ways, but not something I imagine myself returning to. In my dream life, I think I'd be writing my own books?fiction. Jeff promises me that if I ever get published that he'll make the signed first editon of my book the most expensive in the store! (Even if everyone else discounts it for $2.99).

Name 5 people, living or dead, you would invite to a dinner party.
Jeff: Certainly I would have Morley Callaghan there?he's the only character of the Hemingway/Fitzgerald era in Paris that wasn't permanently intoxicated or semi-insane, so I'd enjoy his stories of those heralded days. Also, Arthur Wellesley (the Duke of Wellington) for insight into Waterloo. And finally, Maya Angelou?because Alanah and I both love her spiritual writing.

Alanah: Okay, that leaves me two more: I pick Katherine Hepburn (I loved her autobiography Me) and Robertson Davies, a remarkable Canadian author.

What was your best book find, for price or personal reasons?
Hands down, it was a first edition, 1690, by Samuel Pepys, titled Memoires Relating to the State of the Royal Navy of England for Ten Years, determin'd December 1688. What an amazing find, with its original morrocan leather boards. We had it for several months before selling it, so it became like our child and was painful to give up. The customer that purchased it, though, was an American University library, so we know it is being well-preserved and is still publicly accessible. We've had many very rare books come through the shop, including firsts by Ernest Hemingway and J.D. Salinger, but for historical importance, that Pepys was one-in-a-million.

Contact Jeff and Alanah Downie:
Gallowglass Books
40 Ingram Street
Duncan, British Columbia
V9L 1N7
Canada
Phone: 250-746-4104
Fax: 250-746-4108
E-mail: gallow@islandnet.com
Specialties: Military history, general history, a large general nonfiction inventory, and selective fiction as well.

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway - I have always been fascinated by Ernest Hemingway's works on Spain but would gladly recommend his book The Moveable Feast, which describes his life in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s.

That Summer in Paris by Morley Callaghan - Immediately after reading A Moveable Feast, you would have to read That Summer in Paris by Morley Callaghan, which describes many of the same events and people, but with his own keen observations. Fascinating reading.

For Most Conspicuous Bravery: A Biography of Major-General George R. Pearkes, V.C., Through Two World Wars by Reginald H. Roy - I would encourage anyone interested in modern Canadian military history to read For Most Conspicuous Bravery by Reginald H. Roy. It details the life of Major-General George R. Pearkes and provides an excellent overview of Canadian history between and during the two World Wars.

A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane - One of the most literate, stylish and witty modern mysteries I've ever read.

The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve - For a plot woven so intricately, her talent just dazzles my mind.

The Gilded Ghetto: Woman & Political Power in Canada by Sydney Sharpe - An engrossing book about the history of women in Canadian politics.