MP visits local bookshop to celebrates Dickens' anniversary

Arundel & South Downs MP Nick Herbert paid a visit to the independent bookshop Book Ferret in Arundel last week to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens' birth.

Charles Dickens, who was born 200 years ago this month in Portsmouth, is generally considered one of the world's greatest novelists.

Book Ferret, which opened in August 2010, is an independent bookshop situated on Arundel's High Street.

Speaking following the visit, shop owner Sarah Meadham said: "I opened The Book Ferret a year and a half ago.  Arundel has a fantastic sense of community and I have been really welcomed into it.

"The bicentenary of Dickens' birth has generated a lot of interest in the author and has introduced the classics to a new generation of readers."

Mr Herbert purchased a copy of Dickens' novel Hard Times as well as the biography Charles Dickens: A Life by Claire Tomalin.

Nick Herbert commented: "It's great that in the age of internet book sales an independent bookstore like this is thriving, and I know how popular The Book Ferret is with Arundel residents and visitors alike.

"Visiting the bookstore seemed a good way to mark Dickens' anniversary, and I thought Hard Times was an appropriate novel to choose in the current climate!"

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Notes for Editors

1. Photograph attached, Nick Herbert MP with Book Ferret owner Sarah Meadham.

2. For more information about Book Ferret bookshop in Arundel, please visit: www.thebookferret.co.uk.