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Friday, October 25th: Avenue Victor Hugo Bookshop in the 603

It was a fixture in Boston's Back Bay for nearly 30 years and now it's in Lee.

Friday, October 25th: Avenue Victor Hugo Bookshop in the 603

It was a fixture in Boston's Back Bay for nearly 30 years and now it's in Lee.

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ERIN: MONICA FERNANDEZ HAS MORE. SHE SHOWS US WHAT MAKES THIS BOOK STORE SO SPECIAL. >> THAT IS THE MAGIC WORD. MONICA: IN THE CENTER OF LADY, NEW HAMPSHIRE -- >> PROJECT. MONICA: YOU WILL FIND THIS RED BARN. >> BOOKS ARE MAGIC. MONICA: FILLED WITH TREASURES LIKE THESE THAT CAN TAKE YOU TO A WHOLE NEW PLACE. >> THE TRANSPORTATION THAT TAKES RACE IN THE NOVEL ALLOWS YOU TO NOT JUST LIVE YOUR OWN LIFE BUT LIVE ON ANOTHER LIFE. MONICA: IF BOOKS OPENED DOORWAYS , THINK OF HIM AS A MAN THAT HOLDS THE KEY. >> I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN DEVOTED TO BOOKS. I WRITE THEM AND I SELL THEM. MONICA: NOT JUST ANY BOOKS. AVENUE VICTOR HUGO HAS MANY TITLES. ALL IMPORTANT. VINCE: IN THE ANCIENT TIMES, WE HAD CAMPFIRES AND TOLD STORIES AROUND THE CAMPFIRE AND THAT IS HOW WE GOT THE UNDERSTANDING OF OUR CULTURE. THE BOOK IS A CREDIBLE CAMPFIRE. THAT IS HOW YOU GET THE BASIS FOR EVERYTHING THAT YOU ARE. MONICA: THAT PASSION IS THE REASON THAT VINCE, AT 72, JUST OPENED THIS BOOK STORE. BEING HERE, SITTING WHERE YOU ARE SITTING SURROUNDED BY YOUR BOOKS, HOW DOES THAT FEEL? VINCE: HAVE YOU EVER SEEN P IGS IN MUD? I’M AS HAPPY AS ANY BARNYARD ANIMAL CAN BE. MONICA: TO KNOW WHY THIS IS SO SPECIAL, YOU HAVE TO GO BACK TO 1975 AND THIS PHOTO HANGING UP FRONT. THIS IS THE ORIGINAL VICTOR HUGO BOOKS ON NEWBERRY STREET IN BOSTON. HE OPENED IT IN 1975 AFTER YEARS OF SELLING BOOKS OUT OF THIS CART. VINCE: I THOUGHT IT WAS REALLY ROMANTIC. I AM REALLY INVESTED IN THAT WHOLE -- THE ROMANCE OF SELLING BOOKS. ON THE GOT: WROTE -- MONICA: ROMANCE IS NOT ALWAYS EASY. >> I SAT IN THE -- I SLEPT IN THE BACK OF THE CAR. MONICA: IT HAD A QUARTER OF A MILLION MAGAZINES. >> IT KEPT GROWING. MONICA: THE STORE WAS A LEGEND REPEATEDLY WINNING BEST OF BOSTON AND DRAWING LEGENDARY LITERARY GREATS. BUT NEWBERRY STREET WAS ALSO GROWING. VINCE: THE EVOLUTION. NEWBERRY STREET GOT HOT AND OUR RENTS KEPT GOING UP. MONICA: IN 2004, THIS BUSINESS WAS FORCED TO CLOSE. VINCE: IT WAS DEVASTATING. I DON’T THINK I RECOVERED FROM THAT COMPLETELY, EVER. MONICA: AND THAT IS WHEN THIS BOOK LOVER STARTED WRITING HIS OWN. VINCE: IT SAVED ME. IF I HAD NOT BEEN WRITING, I WOULD HAVE DIED. MONICA: HE SOLD BOOKS ONLINE FOR YEARS AND THEN HIS DAUGHTER AND SON-IN-LAW DECIDED TO HELP HIM RIGHT A NEW CHAPTER IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. >> WE HAD A VERY PECULIAR SHOPPING LIST FOR OUR REAL ESTATE AGENT. WE NEEDED ROOM FOR A FAMILY, IN LOSS, AND 20,000 BOOKS -- IN LAWS, 20,000 BOOKS. MONICA: THAT IS HOW THEY FOUND THIS BARN. THE ORIGINAL STORE HAS COME BACK TO LIFE HERE. ABOUT A THIRD OF THE BOOKS ARE THE SAME AS OUR MOST OF THE SHELVES AND THE HANDMADE STARS THAT -- AND THE HANDMADE S SIGNS THAT A STORE CLERK DREW MANY YEARS AGO. >> THIS IS THE FIRST ISSUE. MONICA: WHAT YOU CANNOT SEE IS THE SMELL, THE FAMILIAR SCENT OF WELLBORN PAGES OF BOOKS BELOVED FOR DECADES. LIKE A GREETING WHEN YOU FIRST WALK IN. VINCE: IT IS LIKE AN ELIXIR. >> WHEN THE STORE CLOSED, IT WAS LIKE SAYING GOODBYE TO A FAMILY MEMBER. MONICA: JUST AS ELIZABETH MCCAFFERY GREW UP AROUND A BOOKSTORE, HER SONS WILL ALSO. >> I HOPE THEY LOVE IT AS MUCH AS WE DID. MONICA: THE HOURS ARE NOW LIMITED SO THAT GRANDMA AND GRANDPA CAN BABYSIT. >> HE IS BUSY PUTTING THE BOOKS BACK ON THE SHELVES. WE ARE EXCITED THAT THIS WORKED. THERE HAVE BEEN MOMENTS IN THE LAST FEW YEARS WHEN WE REALLY WONDERED IF THIS WAS ALL A CRAZY IDEA. MONICA: THAT CRAZY IDEA IS DRAWING PEOPLE FROM ACROSS NEW ENGLAND WHO 15 YEARS LATER REMEMBER THE ORIGINAL STORY. >> -- THE ORIGINAL STORE. VINCE: IF YOU CARRY AS AN ECLECTIC GROUP OF BOOKS AS THIS, IT IS AMAZING THE PEOPLE YOU MEET. MONICA: PERHAPS IT IS BECAUSE THE GOAL HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE SAME. VINCE: I WANT THEM TO FIND THE PAST AND THE PRESENT ACCESSIBLE. I HAVE HISTORY, FICTION, SCIENCE -- BASICALLY, ALL OF US NEED TOUCH TONES FOR WHY WE ARE WHO WE ARE AND WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE WORLD THAT IS AROUND US. AND, THIS TELLS YOU. ♪
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Friday, October 25th: Avenue Victor Hugo Bookshop in the 603

It was a fixture in Boston's Back Bay for nearly 30 years and now it's in Lee.

It was a fixture in Boston's Back Bay for nearly 30 years and now it's in Lee.

It was a fixture in Boston's Back Bay for nearly 30 years and now it's in Lee.

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