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I can’t put into words how happy
this garden has made me, and
how much it has changed our lives
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Photography: Nick Wilson for Bridge Studio
HOMEWARD
BOUND
WITH ISY SUTTIE
Julia Raeside takes the comedian and writer on a special road trip back to the Derbyshire bookshop where she worked as a teenager
A road trip conjures up images of far horizons, vast skies reflected in the car bonnet, the freedom of the open highway. But sometimes, the place you really need to go is home.
AXA car insurance can help you get back to the good stuff after a mishap. When we asked comedian and author Isy Suttie where her “good stuff” was to be found, she didn’t have to think twice: it’s the peace she feels at being back home in and around the town of Matlock, nestled just under the southern tip of the Peak District. So today, that’s where we are going, driving through the early autumn drizzle back into her past.
She has felt the pull of this verdant, craggy place since she left aged 19 for London, to seek her fortune as a writer and performer. The Peep Show actor has even set her debut novel, Jane Is Trying, among its looming cliffs and brown stone terraces. And now, in a perfect circularity, Suttie is back there today for a book signing at the same shop she worked in as a youngster.
Scarthin Books, in the village of Cromford just two miles from Matlock, isn’t only the setting for today’s homecoming gig, it plays a starring role in her novel. The protagonist, Jane, flees London and a broken engagement for the safety of her hometown, Foley. We meet her working in the eccentric but cosy local bookshop where every available space (including the bath) is given over to reading matter.
“It’s like my heart is still here, really,” she says, gazing out the car window at the steep cliffs that dominate the skyline.
Suttie’s delight at being back is visible. “I’m excited about going into the bookshop and just feeling that sense of wonder. It’s like being in Hogwarts or something, being surrounded by all of those ancient books. And new ones.” I think she’s secretly thrilled at the idea of seeing her own novel displayed in the place she used to read and dream.
She’s most looking forward to seeing old friends, particularly best pal Caroline who she’s known since they were 13. “Whenever we see each other, it’s like no time has passed,” she says as we turn into the main road through Cromford, which looks like an illustration from an old-fashioned tin of biscuits. “When I was growing up around here, I didn’t appreciate how beautiful it was,” she says.
Suttie’s delight at being back is visible. “I’m excited about going into the bookshop and just feeling that sense of wonder. It’s like being in Hogwarts or something, being surrounded by all of those ancient books. And new ones.” I think she’s secretly thrilled at the idea of seeing her own novel displayed in the place she used to read and dream.
She’s most looking forward to seeing old friends, particularly best pal Caroline who she’s known since they were 13. “Whenever we see each other, it’s like no time has passed,” she says as we turn into the main road through Cromford, which looks like an illustration from an old-fashioned tin of biscuits. “When I was growing up around here, I didn’t appreciate how beautiful it was,” she says.
Scarthin Books is just how I imagined from her novel. Every inch of space is packed, floor to ceiling, with vertical spines of every colour.
Suttie worked in the café hidden behind a hinged wall of books on the first floor. She confesses she was “a terrible waitress”, but she’d stop ferrying pots of tea to customers occasionally to sit at an upright piano and play bits of Moonlight Sonata.
As she settles down to tea and toast before the signing, she admits to mixed emotions about being the local girl made good. “I’m feeling excited but also slightly nervous because you think, ‘Please let people turn up’. If you can’t get anyone to turn up in your hometown, then where can you?”
She needn’t have worried. As 2pm rolls around, a steady queue of fans forms up the stairs outside the signing room.
Suttie sits in a big armchair, next to a trestle table that is groaning with copies of her book, meeting every shy fan with a huge grin.
One youngster clutches a card she’s drawn specially for the occasion. She bashfully hands it over. Suttie looks emotional as she reads the rainbow lettering on the front. Next to colourful drawings of cats and butterflies are the words, “Welcome home, Isy.”
'When I was growing up here, I didn’t
really appreciate how beautiful it was'
Peak show: Isy Suttie in Scarthin Books with Caroline, her best friend growing up in Derbyshire
*Following a valid claim. Standard 3-door 1-litre manual car provided until repair completed by AXA-approved repairer or up to 14 days if the car has been declared a total loss.
TAP IMAGE TO SEE MORE FROM THE BOOK SIGNING
“People here are like, ‘Are you the girl who jumped off Matlock Bridge?’” Watch Isy Suttie’s hilarious stories of childhood and homecoming
To Suttie, “the good stuff” is freedom. When she’s here, the meter stops running on her frantic London life. There are no deadlines or babysitters, just her and the place she loves. And if there’s a slice of Bakewell pudding with cream, all the better. Not custard – that’s for heathens.
“I probably would have thought that ‘good stuff’ was a completely different thing in my twenties,” she says. “But now I’m in my forties, it’s like putting on a pair of slippers.”
As we dip in and out of the bluff landscape, it feels as if the hills are enveloping us in their mossy embrace. “I feel really cared for here, if that doesn’t sound too weird,” she says. I understand what she means. The scenery wraps around the clusters of houses and shops as though protecting them from the outside world.
