A Hollywood actress brought “her warm heart, generous spirit, and lots of giggles” to a reading of her recently published memoir in an Aberystwyth bookshop.

On Monday, 27 September, Miriam Margolyes OBE, known for her role as Professor Pomona Sprout in Harry Potter, visited The Bookshop by the Sea in Aberystwyth.

Miriam, who is currently in the town shooting a feature length film, was joined by around 50 members of the community for a reading and signing of her new memoir, This Much is True.

Owner of The Bookshop by the Sea, Freya Blyth said the event, which sold out within three hours, was “absolutely wonderful”.

“At my bookshop we like to keep it very informal, it has a very living room feel so we wanted to keep that intimacy,” Freya said.

“It was very intimate and cosy and everybody there was very welcoming and supportive of Miriam. It created such a wonderful atmosphere to be in because it meant to she could talk about things that were intimate. We saw her humanity.

“In the intro she says ‘this is the real me’, this is a big theme in her book. And this is what she brought to us.

“She brought us her warm heart, her generous spirit, and lots of giggles.

“It was a joy to speak with her and find out more about her life through her book.

“She did readings from her book, we took questions from the audience, I interviewed her a bit – talking about what had inspired her to write this book at this stage in her life.”

Miriam said she wrote This Much is True during her time in lockdown in Tuscany. Through many Zoom interviews her publishers transcribed her words, which Miriam then used as a basis for her memoir.

“She spoke about her partner, Heather, how they met and how being a lesbian had affected her life and career. She spoke about what inspired her to live her life with such boldness and such authenticity.

“It was wonderful to hear her talk, she is hysterical.”

This was the first author reading held at the bookshop, which was only opened around eight weeks ago. The proceeds from £6 ticket sales, which amounted to £350, went to charity Ethiopia Reads - a not-for-profit organisation promoting literacy and access to books and libraries for children in Ethiopia.

“Its incredible that our first author reading at the book was by Miriam Margolyes. You can’t get any better than that.

“I hope we manage to bring many more creative people to the bookshop and to build that creative community hub in Aberystwyth.

“Miriam said again and again that she was there because she wanted to support local bookshops and particularly bookshops that are doing work within the community. It was really lovely for her to come and support us in that way.

“Its was such a joy because The Bookshop by the Sea is my idea of heaven – which is drinking tea, eating cake, and reading books by the sea.

“So to see other people enjoying that, whoever they are, whether they’re local people, students, or a list starts, it’s always great to see people enjoying the space of the bookshop.”