The Housemaid's Daughter in Foyles

Is Foyles the most famous bookshop in the world?!

Founded in 1903, Foyles is still the go-to bookshop in central London. It's moved over the years, most recently from 113 Charing Cross Road to a magnificent new building at no. 107 in June of this year.

I visited over the weekend and was captivated. There are 200,000 books, arranged over 4 floors in a wonderfully light-filled space. 200,00 is a lot of books - they require 4 miles of bookshelves which would stretch from Battersea Power Station all the way to the Tower of London! And the open display offers the best browsing I've come across in any bookshop... deliberately so, say Foyles, to allow for the "serendipitous discovery of new books".

I wandered amid architecture, music, photography, history... and spotted The Housemaid's Daughter!

When you've exhausted yourself along those many miles of shelves, head for the top floor and a stunning cafe.

By the way, can you see what I found, serendipitously of course, just below my book?