Interview of Mila as told to Andrea Ballou
Narrative is an independent bookshop in Davis Square emphasizing building community, amplifying marginalized voices/experiences & providing a welcoming space for finding connection through intentional gatherings & a thoughtfully curated selection of books.
Business Platforms: instagram- @narrativebookshop, website: narrativebookshop.com
What were some of your favorite books as a child, before immigrating? Was oral tradition part of your early childhood?
My childhood was a bit split in 2 as I was born in Bangladesh, & my family & I lived there until I was 11. Storytelling & expression through language are a very significant part of the culture in Bangladesh & rooted in the history of the country, including the fight for independence, and within Bengali identity. So celebrating language, listening to the stories of our elders as they passed down our history & culture & cultivating reverence for the legendary writers were norms that I grew up with there. In Bangladesh, as in many countries, books & stories are seen & treated as sacred things- we were never even allowed to put books on the ground or step on them so I’ve always had this inherent belief that books are sacred. My Abbu, in particular, deeply loved the arts & storytelling and instilled a respect for the same in me. In terms of falling in love with reading, that didn’t come about until we immigrated to the US & settled in a town that had a wonderful public library.
You immigrated to the U.S. from Bangladesh when you were 11. What were some of the books and stories, and who were some of the authors, that helped you navigate that time of transition in your young life?
After immigrating, we weren’t able to afford very much so the free and welcoming resource of the library was…more than I could ever put adequate words to for me as a kid back then. The Levittown Public Library and librarians, my grade school English teachers, my mom walking me to the library every week, no matter the weather, with grocery bags in our pockets to carry my library loans back and, of course, the books themselves saved my life many times throughout the rest of my childhood and teen years. I would go through stacks & stacks of books every week so it wasn’t so much that any specific books or authors really stuck with me during those years – I got a lot of comfort and perspective out of everything I read at the time and it was more so the fact of having the access to books that was really significant. I particularly fell in love with fantasy books early on and found a lot of comfort & empowerment in them, which I really needed at the time as things were often really difficult after we immigrated. I also never really found books that I saw myself or my family represented in & at least with fantasy, I could imagine myself in the stories since those stories were outside of reality any way.
How did you make your way to Somerville?
After my fiancé finished his PhD program, we prioritized moving to the East Coast to be closer to family because I really wanted to make sure I was spending more time with my mom and siblings. He got a work opportunity in the Boston area & that company recommended we look into Somerville to live in. The lack of diversity where we lived previously had really worn on me, more significantly than I’d realized and we’d also felt really isolated & lonely there for a very long time. The 1st time we came to visit Somerville to see whether we should go through with the move, we actually completely coincidentally happened to be walking up Highland Ave (which is crazy to think about now because Narrative is located on Highland) & within 3 minutes, I heard 5 different languages being spoken and that by itself allowed a huge wave of relief to settle through me & give me a sense of homecoming. We then stumbled into The Burren, not knowing anything about it and while sitting at the bar, you could feel such a sense of warmth and community that my fiancé and I looked at each other and decided right then that we should move here if we could.
When, and how, did the idea of opening a bookstore come to you?
My Abbu passed about 5 years ago & that changed me & my priorities very significantly. I was forced to really think about what I cared about & whether how I was living my life aligned with my core values & hopes. I realized that I had been living in a very misaligned way for a long time and I’d let myself get beaten down a bit and let myself get convinced that pursuing dreams & doing work that felt purposeful was a privilege reserved only for some – not for someone like me. My Abbu, like many, many immigrant fathers, sacrificed all of his own dreams so that my siblings & I could have a better chance at ours & after his passing, I was thinking a lot about all that he wasn’t able to do, how much sadness that caused for him and for everyone in our family and how we just never know how much time we have to do the actual living. So, during this time of intense grief, I decided that I owed it to myself & to my Abbu to shoot my shot, at least once, to live life the way that I truly wanted and that felt right to me. I realized that this bookshop pipe dream I had always had in the back of my head but that I never thought I could consider as a real possibility was the combination of everything that had brought me the most meaning and purpose in my life – serving & building community & finding connection & inspiration through art/storytelling/books. I couldn’t get it out of my head so I slowly started mentioning it to those who know me best, thinking that they would get me to move on from it by telling me it was too risky and unrealistic but every single one of them said it actually made a lot of sense & they could see this being a great fit for me & that they’d cheer me on if I went for it. So when we moved to Somerville about 2 years ago now, I kept avoiding going back to my previous corporate career because I had this gut feeling that this was absolutely the perfect place for me to do this – not only because it’s very obviously reader friendly here but also, particularly in Davis Square, there is an extremely special & overt support for the arts, for community care and for small and local in the neighborhood. So I just kept hoping that a tiny little retail spot would open up for rent that I could pull off running on my own. Then one day, a little over a year ago now, when walking down to Davis Square, I saw a For Rent sign on the small space at 387 Highland, just a bit down from the heart of – in my humble opinion – the best square in Camberville, & I had this visceral reaction of knowing with my whole self that this was it & it was very much a now or never type of thing. I called the leasing agent’s number from the For Rent sign right then, standing out in the cold from across the street, with my heart ready to explode & hoping against all odds that I could somehow afford the rent & that somehow be able to figure out ALL the rest later. And here we are now, with the 1 year anniversary since Opening Day coming up at the end of May.
What are some of the events and gatherings you’ve had in the past, and what do you have coming up?
For me, one of the most exciting aspects of being able to do the impossible dream of having a brick-&-mortar space is the possibility of a lot of different types of programming, gatherings & collaborations. There are so many incredibly talented people here, doing incredible things and I am just very excited to be able to share in that and create another space for it. And so, I never intended to create a traditional bookstore or retail space and limit it that way. The space is small but also versatile, with almost everything on the main floor being mobile so that it can accommodate different possibilities. Narrative is now upwards of 40 events in so far and all events are announced in monthly calendars on the instagram, website and through the newsletter. The calendars are a combination of literary events (author talks/book discussions) & the Narrative Nights Event Series. Narrative Nights are community-minded events such as a monthly open mic, different workshops around collective care, skill sharing, etc., artist showcases and gatherings that encourage carving out time for yourself and/or providing a welcoming space to meet others & socialize. With May coming up and being the 1 year anniversary of Narrative’s opening, I’m really hoping to create some special opportunities to be able to celebrate with everyone! I haven’t fully had a chance to let it all settle in or process everything as it’s been a whirlwind with being a 1-person team and trying to stay focused on pushing forward so I’m really, really excited to make the time to celebrate all the things with the neighborhood & incredible people who’ve given me the most meaningful year of my whole life this past year.
Have you seen the reading and writing community grow and perhaps become more visible in Somerville since you opened?
I think the reading community was very always very apparent and I was really surprised that there weren’t more bookstores around because it’s so clearly reader friendly here. The community almost sold out Narrative of books on Opening Day and the shop was packed for 6 hours straight so it’s very evident how much of a need and demand there was here! I’ve also come to learn how dense the area is with incredible writers as well and it’s been wonderful to get to meet more and more of them. I think reading and writing can often be such a solitary thing that people engage in in isolation so I’m really grateful to be able to provide a space where people with these shared interests & passions & talents can come to & find external connection over.
What can people expect to find on your shelves? How do you go about deciding which books and authors to include in your collection?
The majority of Narrative’s collection consists of new books across various genres that emphasize marginalized voices/experiences including, books with BIPOC, queer, immigrant, disability, mental health representation and much more. The intention behind the new book curation is to help those who have often been underrepresented to feel seen and be amplified and to foster awareness and empathy in all towards marginalized identities and varied experiences. Narrative does also offer a smaller pre-loved selection that is broader in curation and, in true used section spirit, very much a treasure hunt. Special ordering for pick-up is also available through Narrative & requests for that is open to all titles and can be made in-person at the shop or through the request form linked under the shop tab on the website through the link in the instagram bio. The focus of the new collection helps anchor & guide the curation process but when it comes down to it, I don’t have much of a cool answer in terms of how I curate because the reality is that it’s just a lot of time. I hand pick every single new book.
What can people expect to find on your shelves? How do you go about deciding which books and authors to include in your collection?
The majority of Narrative’s collection consists of new books across various genres that emphasize marginalized voices/experiences including, books with BIPOC, queer, immigrant, disability, mental health representation and much more. The intention behind the new book curation is to help those who have often been underrepresented to feel seen and be amplified and to foster awareness and empathy in all towards marginalized identities and varied experiences. Narrative does also offer a smaller pre-loved selection that is broader in curation and, in true used section spirit, very much a treasure hunt. Special ordering for pick-up is also available through Narrative & requests for that is open to all titles and can be made in-person at the shop or through the request form linked under the shop tab on the website through the link in the instagram bio. The focus of the new collection helps anchor & guide the curation process but when it comes down to it, I don’t have much of a cool answer in terms of how I curate because the reality is that it’s just a lot of time. I hand pick every single new book. No, I have not read all of them cover-to-cover but I do a lot of research into all of them. I stayed up for 4 straight days when needing to lock down the opening curation and it nearly killed me so it means the world when anyone is resonating with the collection. One of my favorite comments from a visitor so far was that their favorite part of indie bookstores has always been checking out the Staff Picks and that all of Narrative felt like Staff Picks! I have also gotten incredible recommendations from community members and it is always so special when they come back and see their books shelved and it’s one of the things that’s made me feel like, even though I am a 1 person team, I’m not completely alone in this and I’ve had a team that’s had my back throughout this whole adventure.
What do you most like to do in your time off?
Truthfully, I really have not had much time off since getting the keys to the shop more than a year ago now! But, traveling has always been something that’s brought me a lot of meaning and joy. I love to read, of course, but I also love watching movies/tv, going to concerts, to be outdoors (hiking, camping, etc.), doing creative projects, checking out new restaurants/bars and spending time yapping with my loved ones. Nowadays though, with being in my 1st year of opening a small business, the only thing that I’ve had any time or energy for outside of Narrative-things, & that’s been my preferred activity has been to snuggle with my beloved soulmate, my cat, Beans.
What books, or which author(s), are you currently reading?
I’m currently reading R. F. Kuang’s upcoming book Katabasis, which will be out this August! I am an enormous fan of hers because her book, Babel, changed my brain years ago and I’m so honored to be reading her incredible new book. Get your calendars out because you’ll definitely want to mark it for this one!
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About the Artist of the Month
This program is inspired by the Nave Gallery’s “Featured Artist” program, which ran from 2005 to 2009.
SAC’s Artist of the Month program is a way for us to celebrate the enormous wealth of talent in our city, by shining a spotlight on a different creative Somervillian each month.
This program has been put together by a whole raft of people: Coordinators Jenn Harrington (2013-2014) and Kellie Veiga (2013), Gilmore Tammy (2017) and Somerville Arts Council board members Matt Kaliner, Tim Devin, Valeria Amato, and Michael J. Epstein, Bill House (2019-2020), Charan Devereaux (2019-2025), Tori Weston (2019-2025) and Andrea Read (2022-2025). Current coordinators, are Kerrie Kemperman (2019-), Seth Garcia (2025-), and Ben Cuba (2026-).
Know of a great Somerville based artist who should be recognized, please nominate the artist for consideration. We seek artists who contribute to the community through their strong work and community collaborations. Artist should either reside in the City or contribute to the City’s vibrant art scene.