“The Best Bookshop in the World”

Posted on Mainstreet Whanganui, November 2025, written by Abby Stewart

Lesley Stead is a difficult person to interview. It’s not that she doesn’t want to talk to me, it’s just that a lot of people want to talk to her. Lesley’s owned Paige’s Book Gallery for 20 years; she’s kind and welcoming, funny and wise, and it’s easy to see how she’s made a place here, at the heart of Whanganui. “I always wanted a bookshop. I reached a point where I thought if I don't do it, at 57, I’ll never do it. So I left my job and  worked from home for two years, becoming familiar with the book world. When I ran out of space I came into Guyton Street, where Frances Stachl is now. Then I outgrew that and moved here to the corner. This has been a beautiful site.”

We’ve only just sat down for our interview when a woman walks past and spots us. “Lesley!” She exclaims warmly, stopping to chat on her way to buy books for her grandkids for Christmas. 

“Where were we… Oh yes, books!  I’ve loved books all my life,” Lesley tells me. “My mum loved books and she was very wise. I was so lucky with my mum. She read everything and she was a great teller of stories, so I was raised with books. We used to walk from Springvale into the library (because we didn’t have a car) and then we’d walk home again. That was the beginning of my loving books.”

I came to my love of stories in a similar way. Mum was an English teacher so we spent much of our holidays in the school library while she worked. My family didn’t travel or go away on trips but as kids mum always read to us and encouraged us to read. Through books I got to know the world: what it was like to be in other places and times, but most importantly for me, books helped me to understand what it was like to be other people. Through books I could live hundreds of different lives. Growing up in Thames we were lucky to have an incredible independent bookshop called Carsons. It felt magical - a place filled with whole other worlds to be discovered. I never thought about how those books got into the shop, that there was a magician, much like Lesley, working behind the scenes. Lesley explains how she decides what books to order: “You get to know your customers so well.  So I’ve just tuned in to what I’ve thought the community wants.”  Rochelle Handley, who has worked alongside Lesley since Paiges opened, chimes in:  “We love our community. The support and love from our community…”  Her eyes light up as a young woman pops her head in the door. Lesley introduces us. “Joia’s been deep-sea diving all over the world!”  “She got certified in New Zealand and then got a job in the Caribbean,” adds Rochelle, and it’s so lovely, this almost familial pride they have. 

“It is community,” Rochelle continues. “We just went to four funerals in two weeks, and that’s the sad bit but also the beauty - because our customers become our friends. And the stories…” A customer comes in looking for a jigsaw so Rochelle goes to help her.  Lesley says,“it’s not often that people walk out without finding something that they love.  There’s always an element of surprise in here.” I tell Lesley how great I think the kids ‘section’ is (which is actually the entire shop space next door), where Tanya Hayton, another avid reader, can usually be found working and giving superb book recommendations for all ages. “Tanya’s done that. She loves it. Someone said it was like a shop in Oxford Street. With Christmas coming the children’s room is really busy.”

It’s not only book selling that keeps Lesley busy.  She recently opened the Lockett Gallery across the road, which is currently showing an exhibition of the work of Ned Broad, a conservationist and award-winning illustrator and writer.  “I’m going to start a little publishing house next year. And the other thing I should mention is our library. We’ve got a book club lending library, with six book clubs that meet here at Paige’s - they come for a cup of tea and nibbles and good company of course, and book discussions.  But now other book groups have heard we’ve got this lending library, so now our lending is going out to a lot of country areas.”

“With books you’re spreading heart, hope, love and joy and diversity,” says Rochelle. “The other joy for me is matching people to the right book. If you find out what their love is and then connect them to a book, that’s going to feed that love. There’s a guy that comes in a lot now - he used to just read crime fiction and now he reads this huge selection because of our kōrero, and so you kind of feel like - he’s growing because of it.”

As we’re finishing up Donna comes back past, showing us her bag now filled with children's books. “Tanya’s just helped me find all my books. She’s been amazing,” she says to Lesley.  “This is the best bookshop in the world here,” Donna tells me. As she walks away, into the beautiful summer day with her bag of books, I think about the effect one good book can have on a life. How lucky we are to be living in a city with not just a great bookshop, but the BEST bookshop in the world.