The Bookshop of Buried Pasts

Secrets, humour, love and mystery abound in this uplifting novel from the bestselling author of The Remarkable Truths of Alfie Bains.

'Sarah Clutton has written an engaging treat of a novel. An emotive mystery involving complex relationships, heartbreaking loss and deep love all expertly woven through the shelves and pages of an enchanting bookshop.' Tricia Stringer, author of The Road Trip

Phyllida Banks is adored in the tiny village of Brookbank, nestled in the Southern Highlands outside Sydney. Admired for her curiosity and wisdom, her antiquarian bookshop is the hub of the community.

So, when Phyllida is suddenly gone, leaving her granddaughter, Lottie, a letter requesting she 'Find Francis', friends and neighbours rally as Lottie grapples with her grandmother's inexplicable actions and her enigmatic past.

Uncovering a fortune of unknown origin, Lottie discovers a trail that leads to Cambridgeshire, England, and another village bookshop with eerie similarities to their own.

As the decades unravel, she stumbles upon the key to a mystery that has baffled police for fifty years. Several people have gone to great lengths to keep the past buried, and it seems Phyllida is at the heart of everything.

Step inside The Bookshop of Buried Pasts — an exhilarating tale of an abandoned boy and the woman who refused to forget him.

'Deeply moving, haunting and so richly layered, with sentences so beautiful they had me awestruck. Sarah Clutton is an enormous talent and I just know this tender story will stay with me for such a long time.' Tess Woods, author of The Venice Hotel

'This novel draws you in and doesn't let you go, long after it's over. It is a moving - sometimes heartbreaking - story of how the bonds of love transcend time and circumstance, and how the past and the present are forever intertwined.' Sophie Green, author of Lessons in Love at the Seaside Salon

About the Author

Sarah Clutton lives in Australia's first Book Town on Gundungurra and Tharawal country. She has tried her hand at various jobs: research assistant, judge's associate, insurance claims advisor, litigation lawyer, philanthropic foundation manager and ghost-writer. In between freelance writing gigs she is events manager for her local chapter of Rural Australians for Refugees. Her bestselling novel, The Remarkable Truths of Alfie Bains, was published in 2025. The Bookshop of Buried Pasts is her tribute to village-living in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, and to the booksellers and book people who are its beating heart.