Exchange (novel)

Exchange was a novel published in 2007, written by Paul Magrs. It was adapted from a short story, The Great Big Book Exchange, which was commissioned by New Writing North for their 2005 anthology, Magnetic North.

While there was a decided lack of any connections to any of Paul Magrs' other works upon its release, the novel Enter Wildthyme retroactively made Exchange an integral part of its narrative by integrating the main slew of characters and heavily relying on continuity from Exchange. By doing this, Exchange is one of the many necessary prerequisites for Enter Wildthyme.

A short sequel, Collecting Ada Jones was published in The Sunday Express Magazine, and republished in Twelve Stories. The story was told from the perspective of a daughter of a fan of Ada Jones, a character who originated from The Great Big Book Exchange and Exchange. The narrative would approximately be slotted in before the final chapter of Exchange.

Publisher's summary
A bookshop crammed with wonders; a lost friendship rediscovered; sinister secrets and a terrible act of revenge.

Following the death of his parents, Simon, a shy 16-year-old, moves into his grandparents' claustrophobic bungalow. United by their voracious appetite for novels, Simon and his grandmother stumble across the Great Big Book Exchange - a bookshop with a difference. They meet impulsive, gothic Kelly and her boss, Terrance - and the friendship forged in the Great Big Book Exchange result in startling and unsettling consequences for all of them.

Plot
Simon is walking to the bungalow that his grandparents, Winnie and Ray Thompson, had made a home in. On his trip, some local bullies start taunting him, so he keeps his head down, and he keeps walking, thinking to himself about how much his life had changed since his parents' death. At the bungalow, Winnie reassures him about this. He remembers that after his parents had died, all he had kept were his books, and even that was after some persuading by Winnie.

On Saturday, Winnie and Simon go out on a bus to a neighbouring town to search for books in charity shops. The bus breaks down on South Road, just outside of the market town they were heading for, and they stumble across a large bookshop - The Great Big Book Exchange.

Inside, they find that it's a labyrinth of bookshelves, each spanning in different directions. There are books crammed into every available space, towering towards the ceiling. They find that the organisation is nonsensical, as the combinations of genres is seemingly random. They find that the plastic-armed owner, Terrance, is sitting at desk in the room farthest back, engrossed in a book. A goth, Kelly, comes in and alerts Terrance, but he continues to read his book. He finally looks up, and asks if they'll be joining the Exchange.

After an hour of browsing, Simon has an armload of rare books, which assumes will cost a fortune. He checks the prices, and they extremely cheap. Terrance explains that once you buy the book, after you've read it, you should return it, and get another book in exchange. Simon is tentative about joining the Exchange, but the temptation of the selection of books is enough to get him and his gran to sign up. After a few days, Simon realises he has an affinity with Kelly.

At the bungalow, Winnie has been engrossed in a new book, Mary and Agnes. It's a rags-to-riches story about two girls in the slums, written by Ada Jones. Winnie tells Simon had she used to know Ada, and that the book she's reading is actually about her and Ada.

In a flashback to Winnie's and Ada's childhood, Ada had moved in next door with her unkempt family, and Ada had poked her head over the fence, and she and Winnie struck up a friendship.

The next Saturday, Winnie brings in three old romance novels, in lieu of the Ada Jones novel. Terrance is offended by this act, and he storms off. Kelly tells them that they can technically keep the books they've bought, as the legally own them, and she explains that Terrance is protective of his books. Simon and Winnie have a browse around the Exchange, and Kelly gets into a conversation with Simon. They talk about books, and then Kelly gives Simon her phone number.

In a flashback, Ada had never owned books herself, so she had to borrow books off Winnie. Ada was a fast reader, so she got through these books quickly, so she often re-read the same books over and over, often memorising them, so she enjoyed changing details to fit her fancy. One morning, Ada came over to Winnie's home, asking for paper and pencils, in order to write down her ideas.

Since Saturday, Simon had phoned Kelly twice, and on the second call, Simon asks if Kelly would like to come to his town, to have dinner with his grandparents, and Kelly agrees. Later that day, Simon brings Ray a cup of hot chocolate, and Simon discovered that Ray has a collection of 1950s pornographic magazines. Ray asks Simon not to tell Winnie, as Ray had told her that he had gotten rid of those magazines years ago.

Despite Simon's worries, when Kelly comes for dinner, it goes remarkably well. Winnie and Ray had sweetened up their home, and they used their best china, as well as putting on smart clothes. Kelly tones down her gothic attire, and she's extremely polite during the dinner. Afterwards, Simon walks Kelly down to the bus stop, and they begin to get into an argument, when Simon gets offended by her conversation. They walk past the gang of bullies that Simon often ignores, and they begin to taunt Simon and Kelly. Kelly, without saying a word, calmly walks over to the gang and punches the leader's face, knocking him out. Kelly says goodbye to Simon, and she departs on her bus.

On Saturday when Simon and Winnie return from the Exchange, Ray is still in a good mood about Kelly, so he has a more playful demeanour on, so he jokes around with Simon and Winnie instead of berating them for their enthusiasm for books.

The following Tuesday, Simon gets ready for school, as usual, however when gets to the gates of the school, he runs off down the road to the bus stop. Kelly had texted him earlier, asking him to bunk off school and come to the city that was north of the town. He gets on the bus, and joins Kelly at the back.

They arrive at the city, and Simon withdraws some of the insurance money from his parents' death, and the twosome head off into the city. They go into an assortment of shops, and they have lunch together. Towards the older part of the city, Kelly tells Simon that there will soon be a museum about Ada Jones opened, and Simon says that they should ask Winnie for advice.

Ada had been taught all she knew from Winnie, and even though Winnie's mother, nicknamed the Duchess, had disparaged Ada, she stuck to her dream of writing.

Dusk breaks over the city, and Simon and Kelly go to a wine bar and they buy two bright orange cocktails. They talk for a while, and they then head home on the bus. They sit in companionable silence and they read novels that they bought, and when Simon gets off the bus at his town, Kelly tries to kiss him, but it goes awkwardly.

The next Saturday, when Simon and Winnie are at the Exchange, Kelly doesn't get a chance to talk with Simon, as unusually there are other customers in the Exchange. The next Tuesday after that, Simon decides to head off to Kelly's town, not to meet up with her, nor visit the Exchange, but to just explore with the notion that he's in the same place where Kelly is.

He thinks about himself, about how he believes in fate, and then how Terrance now dresses smartly when Winnie comes to the Exchange. Simon suspects Terrance has a crush on her. While waiting for his bus home, Kelly gives him a call, as she wants to tell him something next Saturday. At home, Winnie is upset as Ray has been in a temper all day long. Ray had been complaining about "lice" from inside the paperbacks, and how Kelly was only friends with Simon to get at his insurance money.

At school, Ada Jones should've been at the top of the class, as she was great at many things, but Ada pretended to be just a slow-witted girl, never excelling at anything. The reason for this is because she believed everything the teachers tried to educate her on was useless, as books helped her much more.

On Saturday, Ray, in a temper, calls Winnie's and Simon's books "dirty", grabbing random handfuls of books off shelves and dumping them in the sink which was filled with washing-up water. Later, when Winnie and Simon reach the Exchange, Winnie breaks down into tears in front of Terrance, and he takes her to get a cup of coffee at a café.

After they leave, Kelly tells Simon that she has found a "Literary Lunch" at the King's Arms Hotel, which has Ada Jones as the guest of honour. Simon is apprehensive about the cost of the tickets and the potential ways it could all go wrong, but Kelly is adamant it'll be perfect.

Kelly leads Simon into a room towards the back of the Exchange, filled with illicit 1950s magazines, and they try to kiss again, but it goes awkwardly when Simon misjudges where Kelly's lips were, and he kissed her hair, getting a mouthful of gel. They go back to the front of the shop, and Kelly suggests stealing Ray's collection of magazines, and Simon is naturally against the idea of stealing from his granddad.

Over the next few days, Simon ignores Kelly's increasingly terse text messages, and as much as he doesn't want to take the magazines from his granddad, he knows that the Literary Lunch is worth it. On Wednesday, he receives a parcel from Kelly with a selection of books inside, and a note telling him that she was coming over that night to help Simon take the magazines while his granddad is down at the pub.

Later, Simon helps Kelly get the box of magazines from the garage, but to their horror they hear that Ray has arrived home earlier than expected, so they hurriedly hide the box of magazines in Simon's room, and Kelly quickly pretends to be kissing Simon when Ray enters the room. Ray tells them to stop, but it's clear he's secretly happy about Simon's relationship with Kelly. Ray leaves their room, and shortly after Kelly leaves too, carrying the magazines in a bag slung over her shoulder.

On Friday night, Kelly texts Simon, telling him that She's convincing Terrance to buy the magazines off her. The next morning, Simon and Winnie head off to the Great Big Book Exchange, and there Kelly tells him that Terrance bought the magazines, and she gives him the tickets to the Literary Lunch. After the Exchange, Simon tells Winnie about the event, and she's extremely grateful.

They travel back home, and they're greeted with the scent of burning paper. Rushing into the garden, they see that Ray has set fire to dozens of books. They go inside the bungalow to see shelves depleted of books, and empty lager can, and they see Ray lying on the bed, after the smoke had been too much for him. Winnie shouts at him for destroying the books, and she breaks down into tears how he had risked his health like that.

That night, when Ray goes to bed, Winnie and Simon talk for hours, and during this Simon realises that Ray must've burnt their books in revenge of the magazines, but Simon decides not to tell Winnie this. Over the next week, Ray stays bedridden and a doctor comes to check his lungs.

One night, Simon goes to a phone box in town to call Kelly as his mobile had run out of credit, and as he's talking to her he sees that the gang of bullies are closing in on him, and as she's telling him that Terrance's family had died in a fire, he tries to say goodbye to Kelly and he runs from the bullies, leaving Kelly still talking, none the wiser that Simon left.

On Friday morning, Winnie and Simon get ready for the Literary Lunch, and Winnie receives a parcel from Terrance containing the first fifteen Ada Jones novels. Shortly after 9 AM, they leave the bungalow and Ray behind to catch a taxi, they pick up Kelly from her dad's flat, and they head off to the King's Arms Hotel.

At the hotel, they find their designated table in the Rainbow Function Room, and a woman named Marcia introduces herself to the three of them. Ada Jones stands on a podium in the centre of the room, and she gives a small speech, with a surprisingly loud, especially for her short and withered appearance. She gives a reading of a passage from her latest novel, and when she finishes, Kelly, Simon, and Winnie join a queue to meet Ada.

Simon sees that they're supposed to buy her latest novel in order to get it signed, but Winnie refuses, saying she only buys paperbacks. When they reach Ada, Winnie looses her nerve and pretends to just to be another fan, but Ada recognises her instantly, and the two are reunited. Later, Ada invites Simon, Kelly, and Winnie to her and her husband’s home, and the trio delightfully accept. The group heads off to their destination, ninety miles away.

At the bungalow, a panicked Ray decides to go through Winnie's possessions, without much purpose, and there he finds her membership card for the Great Big Book Exchange, causing him to decide to go to the Exchange. When he arrives, Ray bursts into the Exchange, where Terrance is making himself dinner.

Characters

 * Simon
 * Bullies
 * Winnie Thompson
 * Ray Thompson
 * Kelly
 * Terrance
 * Ada Jones
 * Simon's mum
 * Simon's dad
 * Ada's mum
 * Winnie's mum
 * Eric Jones

Locations

 * In the town where Winnie and Ray live, there is: Market Square; an unnamed supermarket; a library; The Legion, a pub where Ray often goes to; Whickham Way; and Booze ‘n' Cigs ‘n' Papers, which is a newsagents. The town is next to a motorway.
 * Simon thinks about Sherwood Forest.
 * There is a Northern city next to the motorway, which bordered onto the ocean. The city has a record shop that Simon and Kelly went into together, and a hippy shop called Guru which Kelly went into by herself.
 * Kelly's town has an indoor market, charity shops, newsagents, cafés, the King's Arms Hotel (on High Row, located at the centre of the town), and an industrial estate.

Businesses

 * Winnie mentions Woolworths.
 * RSPCA, Cancer Research, Sue Ryder, and Scope are charity shops.
 * Simon likens Winnie's behaviour in charity shops to how one would shop in Harvey Nichols.

People

 * Winnie mentions Fred Astaire, Ella Fitzgerald (and the song Cole Porter) and Vincent Van Gogh.
 * Simon briefly thought that Kelly might worship Hecate the goddess.
 * Kelly owns a pair of Doc Martens which she wears regularly.
 * Simon studied Chaucer in his class.

Food and drink

 * Winnie and Simon eat Madeira cake, and Antipasti, Parma ham, and mango are served at the Literary Lunch, and Terrance eats Ravioli at the Exchange.


 * Winnie drinks Earl Grey tea, and after Ray destroyed most her books she drank several glasses of sherry.

Continuity

 * Hecate was first mentioned in VID.
 * Ada Jones's death is covered in greater detail in PROSE: Collecting Ada Jones.