by Sue Nelson & Kayla Quirk
A customer walks by The Book Loft, stops, turns to his wife, “Is that, I mean, is that the
bookstore in Grisham’s Camino Island?” The wife says, “I don’t know, let's ask!”
The friendly passers by pop in the doorway. Before they even ask, “Yes,” we proclaim! “We are the bookstore in Camino Island.” With our heads held high and beaming with excitement, we go on to tell the rest of the story.
You simply cannot visit Amelia Island without a trip to the bookstore. Thanks to John Grisham,
visitors from all around the world know our store as the one with the hidden transcripts in the
basement.
In 2019, Grisham joined the Amelia Island Book Festival for a luncheon. He discussed what a
day in the life of Amelia Island is like. He mentioned the luxury of sleeping late and reading a
good book! Grisham expressed his love for the island as well as the inspiration behind Camino
Island.
When in town Grisham and his wife often visit The Book Loft. Cathy Schultz, long time
bookseller at The Book Loft, likes to tell about when she asked Grisham straight up, “Mr.
Grisham,” she said, “is Camino Island about our store?”
“Well, yes,” he said, “it’s based around Amelia Island, so yes, it is your store.” There you have
it, folks. Cathy continues, “I asked him, now what about this basement? ” She smiles, “He put his
arm around me and said, Cathy, it’s fiction and I can put anything I want in the book!”
Each and every day we get customers asking about our store because of John Grisham’s Camino
Island. In fact, it remains one of our top selling novels to this day. And for that, we remain
thankful for Grisham and his work. We look forward to the next visit with Grisham, and to the
next Amelia Island Book Festival.
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