When I went to Europe and sprinkled books through five cities in my wake.
This is a post about how small things matter. I’m going to tell you a story but let me get it out there that I don’t have any proof at all that what I did mattered to anyone else but me. Still. That’s the nature of giving. Sometimes you’ll just never know what the impact of your single action has, or will be, in the future.
Two date markers inspired today’s post. First: March is National Reading Month.
Second: This week is a seven-year anniversary for fairies.
Book fairies, to be exact.
It all started a few years ago in 2019, when the indomitable writer friend
Teri Case made a little note in her newsletter that piqued my imagination. She gave a link to an innocuous underground movement started in the UK. On the surface, their mission looks benign enough:
To be a book fairy.
(Super fun! Right?!)
No little wand or wings though. Just a group of intrepid book lovers with the brilliant intent to leave behind books like fairy dust wherever they go. I am instantly all-in, and quickly click/purchase Book Fairy labels and bookmarks to put in books to give away.
I’m in a rush because I’m leaving for Europe. True, I’m a book fairy newbie, but why not amp up the book fairy ante immediately? Do it overseas, in crowded public places (to raise the stakes), undercover (I am known for my craftiness). We will visit five cities. My new mission is to leave behind a book in each one: Barcelona, Lisbon, Aix-en-Provence, Paris, Amsterdam.
In a distracted moment, my husband unwittingly agrees to photograph my clandestine technique as we travel.
What Books Do I Give Away?
Since this idea is last minute, I decide to turn to my own bookshelves to select the gift books. How to choose? Give away stories you totally love, right? And paperback (since weight matters). I choose five glorious novels that have danced in my heart:
Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esquivel
The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Muriel Barbery and Alison Anderson
Lilac Girls, Martha Hall Kelly
Love Medicine, Louise Erdrich
The Invention of Wings, Sue Monk Kidd
I tie each with a velvet red bow (to draw attention), tuck in the Book Fairy info and also write a personal note, something like “Please take. I love this book and hope you will too.” (I had to write it in English but hoped it could land in the hands of someone who knew an English-speaker/reader.)
To find room, I remove a sweater from the suitcase and tuck in the books. Ready!
Here we go.
September 20. First stop is Barcelona where the street week-long celebration, La Mercè Festival, is going full force. Human pyramids, giant puppets, fireworks. Even for tourist-heavy Barcelona the streets are jam-packed. Excellent first book fairy challenge! Unfazed, I choose a park bench across from la Sagrada Familia cathedral. Clandestinely, I pull Like Water for Chocolate out of my cross-body and casually set it down. This smooth move will prove to be my go-to action. After a beat or two, feigning distraction I’m up and outta there. We hover a bit, buy an ice cream, and when we look back…it’s gone!
September 24. On a high, eager to do the next book drop, four days later we visit LX Factory an artsy complex made up of artist stalls and studios in Lisbon. It’s a bit rainy so no-go on an outdoor book drop. We duck into a café. I order a latte and smoothly slide The Invention of Wings onto the table. Moments later, we’re gliding to the door…“Senora! Su libra!” Damn! Gamely, I take it back. Two days later…
Moments before Book Fairy Fail in the LX Factory art complex.
September 26. …I’m ready to try again. Outside the ramped entrance to a subway, dozens of smartly dressed Portuguese professionals surge up and down the entry. Intent, distracted faces race to their next destination. Somebody here needs “Wings”! After leaning on the concrete wall bordering the ramp, I leave the book behind. We board a bus with me craning my neck to see if it’s still there as we pull away…
September 30. My husband and I have met up with Cousin Alex and his always adventurous wife, Ashley in Aix-en-Provence. Upon hearing about this book fairy business, Ashley’s all-in. Usefully, it’s a packed Market Day in the town square. Cleverly undercover as American tourists, we stroll the booths, scouting drop spots. With perfect poise, Ashley assumes lookout alert. On her hissed, “Now!”, Love Medicine slides in place and we stroll away. Elated, we find the guys to high-five, but they missed it (too busy sipping Chablis.) No matter. We high-five each other!
October 3. Naturally, I pay homage to Van Gogh by visiting his paintings in Musée d’Orsay in Paris. A former train station, the front hall is a grand echoey display of sculpture and wooden seats. I thumb through an art book purchased from the museum shop, then move on, leaving Lilac Girls. Twenty minutes later, it’s gone!
October 10. Last stop is the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. In doingresearch for my book, I wander the halls imagining what it was like when Jo, my book’s protagonist, orchestrated her breakout exhibition for Vincent in 1905. After taking notes and chatting with museum staff, it’s time for The Elegance of the Hedgehog to find a new home. A bright blue park bench near a bunch of college kids beckons. Mission accomplished!
Book Fairies Have a Seven-year Anniversary.
In the last month or so, announcements on Book Fairies' anniversary have popped into my Inbox. I’m realizing that when the pandemic halted travel, I’d forgotten about how fun/ridiculous it was to join them.
I don’t know who (and in some cases, if anyone) got the books. If they read English, or perhaps gave the books to someone else. Or if they’re gathering dust somewhere.
Or were destroyed.
It doesn’t matter. I had no strings attached. Just the idea of giving something I love and placing it out in the universe aligns with my confidence that the world is a connected, generous, kind place when we throw our weight onto that side of the scale. If my task is simply to pass along a gift that celebrates and empathizes with the human condition…well, that’s enough.
In fact, I think most times we don’t know what effect an act of kindness may mean to another, but we sure know it when we need it, and another gives it to us.
Warmly (with a bit of fairy dust),
P.S. I’ve reposted this on March 6 with a few edits as I mixed up my dates in the original post.
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