Pulp Fiction turns another page

WHEN Angela Pereira first stepped inside the building that would become Murwillumbah’s beloved second-hand bookstore Pulp Fiction, she found holes in the walls, debris on the floor and a chained front door that barely worked.

“There was this sort of front door with a chain wrapped around it,” she recalled.

“It looked like Fort Knox, but you only had to push it, and it would swing open.”

Inside, the remnants of past occupants were unusual to say the least.

“It looked like someone had kept an indoor fire in there,” Angela said.

Despite its rough beginnings, she saw potential, transforming the derelict space into what would become one of Murwillumbah’s most iconic local stores.

Angela first entertained the idea of opening a bookstore while living abroad, inspired in part by the Quentin Tarantino film that would later give the shop its name.

“I was living in Berlin, and I was imagining what I would do if I came back to Australia,” she said.

 

“I’d just seen that movie, and I just decided to follow my passions and open up a bookstore, because I really liked reading.”

While the film inspired the name, ‘pulp’ would later take on a literal meaning after consecutive floods in 2017 and 2022.

“When the floods came through it looked like a poltergeist had been through the shop,” Angela recalled.

“Books and water don’t mix, and we lost everything at belly-button height.”

Swollen books buckled the shelves, mud coated everything, and crowbars were used to retrieve what little could be salvaged.

“It was just such a nightmare,” she said.

“You’d think it would never be clean again.”

But with determination and strong community support, Pulp Fiction lived on.

Angela raised the building above flood level, while locals helped clear debris and donate stock so the shop could reopen.

“People turned up in droves to help clear debris and donate books so we could restock,” she said.

 

The store’s bright blue shopfront, retro mannequin dolls and a 1980s post-punk soundtrack featuring bands like Jesus and the Mary Chain and Joy Division give it a distinctive personality.

“Independent shops with a bit of personality are a big part of what gives the Northern Rivers its character,” Angela said.

“Second-hand bookshops are becoming rarer, so we feel quite determined to keep this one going.”

Floor-to-ceiling shelves form an inner labyrinth that Angela says heightens the thrill of discovery.

“It’s a kind of an ordered chaos,” she said.

“Everything is categorised, but half the fun is wandering through and seeing what you discover.”

Regulars, writers, artists and curious travellers wander the aisles, drawn by the shop’s quirky charm.

“We get people coming through from Byron, Nimbin, Melbourne, the Gold Coast and even Brisbane just to see it,” she said.

While Murwillumbah continues to evolve with new cafes and boutiques, Angela believes places like Pulp Fiction will always play an important role in shaping the town.

“Towns need both new businesses and their older, slightly quirky institutions,” she said.