Ruth Shaw runs a cluster of three wee bookshops in remote Manapouri in the far south of New Zealand. She lives with her husband, Lance. In 2022 she published her first memoir, The Bookseller at the End of the World, which has since become a critically acclaimed national and international treasure. It has been translated into Italian, Dutch, German, Turkish, Chinese, Swedish, Russian, Slovakian, Korean, Spanish and Arabic. Her second book Bookshop Dogs came out in October 2023, and instantly became a NZ bestseller. It's available in the UK and the US (Nov 2024) and is translated into Italian and Russian.

Praise for The Bookseller at the End of the World'Shaw's writing is pragmatic and restrained; her voice is so strong and assured that when grief appears you gasp at its intrusion and your heart stops a second.' Alexa Dretzke, Readings Hawthorn'Amazing!' Jack Tame, Newstalk ZB'A fascinating, funny and moving story.' Nicky Pellegrino, New Zealand Woman's Weekly'Shaw can write about these peaks and troughs [of her life] without a skerrick of maudlin introspection or mawkishness. Battered and emotionally bruised, she marches on. In a word, dauntless, and it's exactly this quality that makes this memoir so readable.' Chris Moore, NZ Listener'Utterly charming and filled with equal measures of heartbreak and humour, Ruth Shaw's memoir will have you booking the first flight to New Zealand to share a cup of tea at her Wee Bookshops. Shaw has been a cook, a nurse, sailor and world traveller, and endured immeasurable loss. But with Lance, the love of her life, Shaw has found her place bookselling in Fiordland.' Booksellers' Choice Australia'Compelling. Shaw tells her own story free of over-sentimentality or self-pity; she's straightforward, frequently humorous... Her resilience, optimism and willingness to help others is to be admired; her remarkable story is to be read and reflected upon as it adds another vital perspective to a NZ life.' Dionne Christian, Sunday Star-Times