Tales From Our Libraries: Book Review

As one chapter closes, another one opens.

It’s the end of March and the Oxford Literary Festival has just wrapped up its nine days of talks and workshops for 2024. A truly world-class event that’s been wooing the great and good of the literary world for 27 years now, it’s prompted us to begin our own series of sorts – a regular book review.

After all, we have an appetising selection of titles within our walls. Quirky and eccentric stories about Oxford and its University, suspense thrillers, children’s classics, tomes on culture and cuisine… They all find a spot on the well-endowed library shelves at Old Parsonage and Old Bank, making lingering impossible to resist.

Philip Blackwell of Ultimate Library (and the Oxford institution itself, the Blackwells family) is responsible for curating and refreshing our libraries, both of which are exclusively for hotel guests. “I’m like a child in a sweet shop,” he admits. “It’s incredibly satisfying to be able to pique peoples’ curiosity and allow them to discover more about Oxford. Every aspect of the city, from its history and architecture to the river and museums are in the pages here.”

“The library and terrace at Old Parsonage are beautifully designed and cosy, somewhere you can get away from it all. The books are an important part of making guests feel at home.”

Oxford is a great seat of learning and has a tremendous history of discovery and literature, so that’s reflected too through the likes of fiction by CS Lewis, Philip Pullman, Colin Dexter and Mick Herron, as is Jeremy’s (The Oxford Collection’s owner) passion for art, food and drink. Ultimately, says Philip, “we want to inspire guests to go out and see new parts of the city and enrich their knowledge, but also to entertain. You can curl up with a book here, whatever the weather, and it’ll take you somewhere completely different.”