What do you think?
Rate this book
The Face Pressed Against a Window: A Memoir
Tim Waterstone is one of Britain's most successful businessmen, having built the Waterstone's empire that started with one small bookshop in 1982. In this charming and evocative memoir, he recalls the childhood experiences that led him to become an entrepreneur and outlines the business philosophy that allowed Waterstone's to dominate the bookselling business throughout the country. Tim explores his formative years in a small town in rural England at the end of World War II, and the troubled relationship he had with his father, before moving on to the epiphany he had while studying at Cambridge, which set him on the road to Waterstone's and gave birth to the creative strategy that made him a high street name.
336 pages, Paperback
Published September 5, 2019
5 people are currently reading
91 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 11, 2019
MARK RUINS BOOKSHOPS
Oh dear, where do we start? Tim Waterstone, the founder of a little company I know quite well.
Basically, the crux of his memoir is one of annoyance. Annoyance of what happened to his company after his sold it for what I am sure was a nice tidy profit. He’s not happy at what the corporate world of capitalism and profit margins did to his company. I mean, what did he expect? But now he is once more, as the company has shifted once again. That’s pretty much all you need to know.
Tales of his early life are as dull as the dirty post-war dish water he had to bathe in and the bread and dripping sandwiches his young self had to consume. There are the usual plethora of dysfunctional family holidays and general dynamics. He repeats the same two anecdotes in the first two chapters, which isn’t the fault of the author, but his sloppy editor.
My father never loved me, yada yada. His lack of love gave him the determination to be a successful national purveyor of bookshops, that sort of woe is me thing. Waterstones was just an almighty fuck you to his dad essentially. Yawn.
In fact, his prep school headmaster masturbating to his exposed bare pre-teen bottom is worryingly the most interesting and entertaining thing in this book. But then he becomes an apologist for bullying and sexual abuse in schools, simply saying that it turns boys into men.
Seriously.
Waterstone is decidedly unapologetic about the number of independent book shops in towns he gleefully takes responsible for closing. The reprehensibility and gall of the man is truly something to behold. He was admittedly ruthless and clearly doesn’t care about it. He’s just like, they weren’t good enough, fuck them. I bet he sleeps like a fucking baby.
The beginning of Waterstones was all about rebellion, something he learned from his time working for WHSmith, who fires him. Something he is still pissed off about to this day. Not to mention the period they took over his company and gutted the original ethos and spirit.
The book is peppered constantly with gushing praise and comment from ex staff members back in the early days when individual stores controlled their stock and their place of work was something to be proud of attending every day. Back when they were told to treat their stores as independents, an ethos that had somewhat dissipated when I worked for the company. You weren’t allowed to be creative and any imagination or ideas were immediately stifled and quashed.
I created from scratch a local author initiative and dedicated events programme at a time in the mid 2000s where not only was a rare thing in the company but I was actively discouraged by head office, putting immense on a succession of consistently harangued branch managers over what I was attempting to create, that being a place for the local community to be cherish and be a part of and not a bunch of faceless shareholders. Essentially what we were doing quickly paid off and was incredibly successful. But they resented us because it was something that they couldn’t take responsibility and credit for.
HMV then tried to turn Waterstones into Tescos and eventually failed. They employed a company director who had never worked in a bookshop in his life. He wasn’t even from a retail back ground, coming from a food distributor. Gerry couldn’t organize his way out of a revolving door and soon left. But before he did, he took the company away from that literary tradition and focused on crap like the “books” from Jordan and Jade Goody instead. Which went down like a shit taco in London’s Notting Hill, I can tell you. In the end, I just refused to put certain ghost-written tosh out onto the floor. Instead they filled the Goods In room rather rapidly, much to the consternation of the staff who had to work in there.
These days branch managers have no say at all over their stock and are not allowed to do any purchasing for the local market they know best, despite his description of the new James Daunt era. Head office and regional managers still control everything. In a way, I’m glad I don’t work for them anymore because I wouldn’t be able to hold my tongue and accept that sort of shit at all. Just like some of my friends still do.
A large part of me wishes that I could have worked for the company in those early days or right now when they seem to have gone back to that original independent spirit (which is what I wanted to experience when I applied in 2004), even though the managers still can’t order their own stock. But it does seem a lot better than those awful HMV stranglehold years I witnessed. But hey.
When it’s all said and done, the general tone of ‘The Face Pressed Against A Window’ is both vindictive and a bit sad really. Tim Waterstone is a bitter man, a little full of himself. His wife and family are pretty much an afterthought in this book and are only mentioned in passing towards the end. It’s interesting for anyone interested in entrepreneurs and business, but aside from that, it’s not enjoyable as a read.
Oh dear indeed.
Oh dear, where do we start? Tim Waterstone, the founder of a little company I know quite well.
Basically, the crux of his memoir is one of annoyance. Annoyance of what happened to his company after his sold it for what I am sure was a nice tidy profit. He’s not happy at what the corporate world of capitalism and profit margins did to his company. I mean, what did he expect? But now he is once more, as the company has shifted once again. That’s pretty much all you need to know.
Tales of his early life are as dull as the dirty post-war dish water he had to bathe in and the bread and dripping sandwiches his young self had to consume. There are the usual plethora of dysfunctional family holidays and general dynamics. He repeats the same two anecdotes in the first two chapters, which isn’t the fault of the author, but his sloppy editor.
My father never loved me, yada yada. His lack of love gave him the determination to be a successful national purveyor of bookshops, that sort of woe is me thing. Waterstones was just an almighty fuck you to his dad essentially. Yawn.
In fact, his prep school headmaster masturbating to his exposed bare pre-teen bottom is worryingly the most interesting and entertaining thing in this book. But then he becomes an apologist for bullying and sexual abuse in schools, simply saying that it turns boys into men.
Seriously.
Waterstone is decidedly unapologetic about the number of independent book shops in towns he gleefully takes responsible for closing. The reprehensibility and gall of the man is truly something to behold. He was admittedly ruthless and clearly doesn’t care about it. He’s just like, they weren’t good enough, fuck them. I bet he sleeps like a fucking baby.
The beginning of Waterstones was all about rebellion, something he learned from his time working for WHSmith, who fires him. Something he is still pissed off about to this day. Not to mention the period they took over his company and gutted the original ethos and spirit.
The book is peppered constantly with gushing praise and comment from ex staff members back in the early days when individual stores controlled their stock and their place of work was something to be proud of attending every day. Back when they were told to treat their stores as independents, an ethos that had somewhat dissipated when I worked for the company. You weren’t allowed to be creative and any imagination or ideas were immediately stifled and quashed.
I created from scratch a local author initiative and dedicated events programme at a time in the mid 2000s where not only was a rare thing in the company but I was actively discouraged by head office, putting immense on a succession of consistently harangued branch managers over what I was attempting to create, that being a place for the local community to be cherish and be a part of and not a bunch of faceless shareholders. Essentially what we were doing quickly paid off and was incredibly successful. But they resented us because it was something that they couldn’t take responsibility and credit for.
HMV then tried to turn Waterstones into Tescos and eventually failed. They employed a company director who had never worked in a bookshop in his life. He wasn’t even from a retail back ground, coming from a food distributor. Gerry couldn’t organize his way out of a revolving door and soon left. But before he did, he took the company away from that literary tradition and focused on crap like the “books” from Jordan and Jade Goody instead. Which went down like a shit taco in London’s Notting Hill, I can tell you. In the end, I just refused to put certain ghost-written tosh out onto the floor. Instead they filled the Goods In room rather rapidly, much to the consternation of the staff who had to work in there.
These days branch managers have no say at all over their stock and are not allowed to do any purchasing for the local market they know best, despite his description of the new James Daunt era. Head office and regional managers still control everything. In a way, I’m glad I don’t work for them anymore because I wouldn’t be able to hold my tongue and accept that sort of shit at all. Just like some of my friends still do.
A large part of me wishes that I could have worked for the company in those early days or right now when they seem to have gone back to that original independent spirit (which is what I wanted to experience when I applied in 2004), even though the managers still can’t order their own stock. But it does seem a lot better than those awful HMV stranglehold years I witnessed. But hey.
When it’s all said and done, the general tone of ‘The Face Pressed Against A Window’ is both vindictive and a bit sad really. Tim Waterstone is a bitter man, a little full of himself. His wife and family are pretty much an afterthought in this book and are only mentioned in passing towards the end. It’s interesting for anyone interested in entrepreneurs and business, but aside from that, it’s not enjoyable as a read.
Oh dear indeed.
July 16, 2021
If you've ever spent an hour ( or 2 or 3 or 4 ) browsing in a Waterstones bookstore, you will be fascinated by this book . If you haven't visited Waterstones, but you enjoy books about bookstores & entrepreneurs, then as well, The Face Pressed Against a Window: A Memoir will be a treat.
Tim Waterstone had a dank & lonely childhood, spent in boarding schools in England, where the winters were cold and freezing, the curriculum uninspiring and one headmaster a sexual predator. His father was cold and rebuffed the young boy's affection, his mother neglectful. The biggest splashes of colour in his early life were visits to the The Book Club, a book store run by a Miss Santoro in his home village of Crowborough. The early part of this memoir is vivid and evocative with details of highs like going to see a cricket match at Lords despite the beginnings of chicken pox and the lows of being actively neglected.
Once Tim Waterstone moves to adulthood, to Cambridge and then to corporate life, there is a shift in tone.
Tim, the boy you knew vanishes - you no longer see him, or his first and then his second wife, or any of his six children.
Instead you see only Waterstones. Of course this is interesting too , moving from the glorious growth years of the book chain to a decade later, to dealings & disagreements with rival bookseller W H Smith.
The books ends with a sense of sadness, of frustration and also a sense of resignation as Tim Waterstone moves away from the business he built up - between private equity companies, investors and gross margin fixated businessmen, there seems little space for a book loving bookseller.
Tim Waterstone had a dank & lonely childhood, spent in boarding schools in England, where the winters were cold and freezing, the curriculum uninspiring and one headmaster a sexual predator. His father was cold and rebuffed the young boy's affection, his mother neglectful. The biggest splashes of colour in his early life were visits to the The Book Club, a book store run by a Miss Santoro in his home village of Crowborough. The early part of this memoir is vivid and evocative with details of highs like going to see a cricket match at Lords despite the beginnings of chicken pox and the lows of being actively neglected.
Once Tim Waterstone moves to adulthood, to Cambridge and then to corporate life, there is a shift in tone.
Tim, the boy you knew vanishes - you no longer see him, or his first and then his second wife, or any of his six children.
Instead you see only Waterstones. Of course this is interesting too , moving from the glorious growth years of the book chain to a decade later, to dealings & disagreements with rival bookseller W H Smith.
The books ends with a sense of sadness, of frustration and also a sense of resignation as Tim Waterstone moves away from the business he built up - between private equity companies, investors and gross margin fixated businessmen, there seems little space for a book loving bookseller.
March 4, 2025
This book is a partial memoir of Tim Waterstone, the founder of the very prominent Waterstone Bookshops. I chose to read this book for the simple reason of wanting to learn about bookshops and booksellers. I have never hear about Waterstone before this book but it was eye opening to see the connection the Waterstone brand has with bookselling in America today with James Daunt taking the reigns of Barnes and Nobles.
The Face Pressed Against a Window: A MemoirTim WaterstoneThe Face Pressed Against a Window: A MemoirAs stated earlier, this book is a partial memoir because Mr. Waterstone skips many aspects of his life. He talks extensively about his childhood. He talks about his education in boarding school and his college years, where the idea of Waterstone came to be. The last part of the book is focused on the reasons why he was led to open Waterstone and the creation of its culture along with the management turmoil during the 90s that led to his departure. He completely ignores his personal adult life and children and mentions briefly his professional accomplishments after he left Waterstone.
I finished this book learning a lot about Waterstone Bookshops but not a lot about Waterstone the man. I missed feeling the personal connection to the author and his life story and that is why I rated this book three stars.
From this book I learned one key thing about bookselling: $/sq. foot is the most important measurement of a successful bookseller.
The Face Pressed Against a Window: A MemoirTim WaterstoneThe Face Pressed Against a Window: A MemoirAs stated earlier, this book is a partial memoir because Mr. Waterstone skips many aspects of his life. He talks extensively about his childhood. He talks about his education in boarding school and his college years, where the idea of Waterstone came to be. The last part of the book is focused on the reasons why he was led to open Waterstone and the creation of its culture along with the management turmoil during the 90s that led to his departure. He completely ignores his personal adult life and children and mentions briefly his professional accomplishments after he left Waterstone.
I finished this book learning a lot about Waterstone Bookshops but not a lot about Waterstone the man. I missed feeling the personal connection to the author and his life story and that is why I rated this book three stars.
From this book I learned one key thing about bookselling: $/sq. foot is the most important measurement of a successful bookseller.
May 2, 2021
Imagine your grandpa calling you and your cousins to sit around a warm fire lit inside a magnificent spacious house in an otherwise cold winter night. “Let me tell you how this all came to be,” he says with his arms widening to showcase the beautiful house. “My story begins in a small English town during the Second World War...” And then he narrates his tale, his humble beginning and his estranged father, his love for books from an early age, his time at Cambridge, his first job at WH Smith and then getting fired, his efforts to raise money to start his own bookstore, his ambition and dream of what his bookstores should mean, the realisation of his dreams making him a success, the drama that unfolded after his exit, and his learnings through life’s journey. As you listen to this interesting story, wondering a bit now and then whether your grandpa was exaggerating the tale somewhat, you would feel somewhere in your heart a warmth towards your grandpa and happy that he followed his heart and could make a difference. If Tim Waterstone is not your grandpa, you can read his memoir (or listen to the audiobook which has Waterstone himself as the narrator) and still feel the same way. A nice comfortable book to drive away the winter cold.
July 10, 2024
It's so lovely to hear the story of Tim Waterstone, I've listened to his novels A Passage of Lives [1996] In for a Penny, In for a Pound [2010] and loved them, so I was thrilled to see this was on Audible, and he read it himself.
What comes through - over and above - some rather challenging things in his and his siblings' lives, is his humility. I have noticed that my favourite people have a humility, which can be seen as transparency or not taking a self-aggrandising attitude in anything. Somehow, this dear man showed a resilience that generally comes with security. And as we go through his life with him, and the people who were there, just when he needed the input, I can only see God's channelling. That is my take on it, because of the way he was led in his life. And his humility shows itself in the way he narrates his own words, where he can be amused at the things done or said against him, so that he lives in an ungrudge-bearing way. If only we could all be so light of heart and gently led by instinct and his own drive, the way this dear man was. I'm going to send a Kindle version of the book to my 30 yrold grandaughter who also worked in Waterstones, once.
What comes through - over and above - some rather challenging things in his and his siblings' lives, is his humility. I have noticed that my favourite people have a humility, which can be seen as transparency or not taking a self-aggrandising attitude in anything. Somehow, this dear man showed a resilience that generally comes with security. And as we go through his life with him, and the people who were there, just when he needed the input, I can only see God's channelling. That is my take on it, because of the way he was led in his life. And his humility shows itself in the way he narrates his own words, where he can be amused at the things done or said against him, so that he lives in an ungrudge-bearing way. If only we could all be so light of heart and gently led by instinct and his own drive, the way this dear man was. I'm going to send a Kindle version of the book to my 30 yrold grandaughter who also worked in Waterstones, once.
August 9, 2019
This was tough in many ways. An interesting business history of a shop I am fond off. It amazed me in about 1986 when I came back from a trip to the sea to find we had one in Guildford, opening on a Sunday, with a Cosy Coupe car to keep my younger son occupied, while I browsed. And my older one worked for one in London for a few months. Tim had a very difficult, negative father, not at all untypical for people who go on to have success, a lesson we could learn a lot from. It is understandable with about 3 marriages, that he chooses not to go into that bit of his life, for the sake of the still living and his 8 children, but obviously the effect of success on family life is another interesting story. And the book ends in a rather unusual way, with two little parables, that mean what?
February 23, 2025
Waterstones is my favourite bookshop, but I knew very little about it, so when I saw this book I was intrigued to read it.
The book is in thirds:
The first third is Tim Waterstone's early childhood and upbringing and his dream of starting a chain of literary bookshops.
The second third is about the conception and early days of the Waterstone's business.
The final third about what Tim Waterstone did after Waterstones was sold, rescued and sold again.
I enjoyed each part of the book apart from the epilogue. I didn't understand why those heartbreaking stories were included but I guess sometimes when writing a memoir it's also about sharing emotional and moving experiences too.
The book is in thirds:
The first third is Tim Waterstone's early childhood and upbringing and his dream of starting a chain of literary bookshops.
The second third is about the conception and early days of the Waterstone's business.
The final third about what Tim Waterstone did after Waterstones was sold, rescued and sold again.
I enjoyed each part of the book apart from the epilogue. I didn't understand why those heartbreaking stories were included but I guess sometimes when writing a memoir it's also about sharing emotional and moving experiences too.
February 5, 2020
Fascinating description of the emotional cruelty parents can unwittingly impose on very small children. What is great about Tim Waterstone is that he reckons it is the lack of paternal love which made him achieve during his later life.
As someone passionate about books I am at one with his desire to create the very special reading centres that constitute Waterstones. I always wanted to run a bookshop and through reading this biography I rather feel as if I have.
As someone passionate about books I am at one with his desire to create the very special reading centres that constitute Waterstones. I always wanted to run a bookshop and through reading this biography I rather feel as if I have.
May 10, 2020
For me this was a book of two halves.
In the first half, Tim Waterstone describes his ordinary Sussex childhood which was made out of the ordinary by the sexual abuse he experienced at boarding school and his poor relationship with his father.
The second half is more like a business school lecture all about the economics and logistics of running a chain of bookshops. I found it far too dry and impersonal.
First half 7/10 ⭐ - I liked it.
Second half 4/10 ⭐ - Extremely average.
In the first half, Tim Waterstone describes his ordinary Sussex childhood which was made out of the ordinary by the sexual abuse he experienced at boarding school and his poor relationship with his father.
The second half is more like a business school lecture all about the economics and logistics of running a chain of bookshops. I found it far too dry and impersonal.
First half 7/10 ⭐ - I liked it.
Second half 4/10 ⭐ - Extremely average.
April 24, 2019
As a history of the evolution of modern book retailing I found the book engaging. But I was surprised that there was no commentary on the rise of the Internet, e–books, Amazon and other recent players and developments. But perhaps he was never of this age and had no empathy with it and it's opportunities.
March 23, 2020
I liked reading the book, however, it read like two different books in one. While the first half is about TW’s personal life, the second part of the book is almost exclusively about Waterstones as a business and its beginning as a start-up.
I thought it would have been more interesting to read about the ups and downs of starting a bookstore chain in the UK and TW’s personal dealings with it.
I thought it would have been more interesting to read about the ups and downs of starting a bookstore chain in the UK and TW’s personal dealings with it.
September 5, 2024
DNF.
As a long-time lover of Waterstones, I was excited to read about its inception. The details of how the founder differentiated Waterstones from other booksellers and how his childhood motivated his later career were somewhat interesting. However, the writing style was under-stimulating, and the anecdotes were rambling and tangential. I was disappointed I couldn't finish.
As a long-time lover of Waterstones, I was excited to read about its inception. The details of how the founder differentiated Waterstones from other booksellers and how his childhood motivated his later career were somewhat interesting. However, the writing style was under-stimulating, and the anecdotes were rambling and tangential. I was disappointed I couldn't finish.
April 16, 2019
The first half - the "personal memoir" was OK but the book got much more interesting when we got to the setting up of Waterstone's and all that happened thereafter...I would have preferred and longer second half (if you can have a "longer half".
September 14, 2025
I love Waterstones, and I really enjoyed the parts of this book that focused on Tim Waterstone’s early life and the beginnings of the bookshop - those chapters were lively and fascinating. Once it got to the sale of Waterstones, though, the pace slowed down and I found myself losing a bit of interest.
I also wasn’t keen on a piece in the epilogue called The Carriage Clock. For me it felt at odds with the rest of the memoir and a little too personal compared to the rest.
Overall I found it an interesting read with some strong parts, but uneven and ultimately a bit disappointing in the way it ended.
I also wasn’t keen on a piece in the epilogue called The Carriage Clock. For me it felt at odds with the rest of the memoir and a little too personal compared to the rest.
Overall I found it an interesting read with some strong parts, but uneven and ultimately a bit disappointing in the way it ended.
May 27, 2019
Interesting read about his childhood and then growing up, but once he has created Waterstones, it delves too deeply into business talk, and quite a lot of anecdotes from his colleagues.
February 2, 2020
I enjoyed the second part much more than the first
September 30, 2024
I am looking at waterstones bookstores differently now
October 29, 2024
Tim Waterstone is best known as the founder of Waterstones, a chain of bookshops in the UK. He has also written a few novels and this memoir, published in 2019, the year he turned 80.
About half the book, more than readers will probably expect from the book's tile, is about Tim Waterstone's childhood and education. He was the youngest of three children in an upper middle class family who settled in Sussex when he was 3. He had a very troubled relationship with his angry, abusive father and difficult experiences in his boarding school education from the young age of 6, including an abusive headmaster at his first prep school. His mother's life and that of the family was apparently shaped by her feeling that wherever her husband's employment and wartime military service took him, she needed to live nearby to be a fully supportive wife. His older sister Wendy was lovely, his brother David rather more troubled. He also writes about various members of his extended family. All of these had died some time before he wrote about them here.
After school and Cambridge University, Tim Waterstone took up a chance through a family friend to work in a tea company in India for a few years, where he married for the first time, then joined a graduate training programme with Allied Breweries before moving to WH Smith. His adult life between the early 1960s and 1981, when WH Smith fired him after an unsuccessful attempt to expand the business abroad is quickly skimmed through in a few pages, so the Waterstones years are only about 40% of the book, 117 pages, describing raising funds, establishing policies, recruiting staff, various innovations, Waterstones being taken over by WH Smiths, then becoming an independent chain again.
The book concludes with a couple of short stories (but probably more factual than fiction) separated from the book - as if he felt these stories needed to be told but couldn't fit them into the narrative.
I was a little disappointed by this book. I found Waterstone's writing style a little clunky and sometimes the chatty, anecdotal musings are a bit frustrating. It is quite a quick easy read if reading for pleasure though, and I think the actual business chapters of the story might be useful for someone looking for a few real life case studies for a business studies type course, alongside textbooks and coursework.
About half the book, more than readers will probably expect from the book's tile, is about Tim Waterstone's childhood and education. He was the youngest of three children in an upper middle class family who settled in Sussex when he was 3. He had a very troubled relationship with his angry, abusive father and difficult experiences in his boarding school education from the young age of 6, including an abusive headmaster at his first prep school. His mother's life and that of the family was apparently shaped by her feeling that wherever her husband's employment and wartime military service took him, she needed to live nearby to be a fully supportive wife. His older sister Wendy was lovely, his brother David rather more troubled. He also writes about various members of his extended family. All of these had died some time before he wrote about them here.
After school and Cambridge University, Tim Waterstone took up a chance through a family friend to work in a tea company in India for a few years, where he married for the first time, then joined a graduate training programme with Allied Breweries before moving to WH Smith. His adult life between the early 1960s and 1981, when WH Smith fired him after an unsuccessful attempt to expand the business abroad is quickly skimmed through in a few pages, so the Waterstones years are only about 40% of the book, 117 pages, describing raising funds, establishing policies, recruiting staff, various innovations, Waterstones being taken over by WH Smiths, then becoming an independent chain again.
The book concludes with a couple of short stories (but probably more factual than fiction) separated from the book - as if he felt these stories needed to be told but couldn't fit them into the narrative.
I was a little disappointed by this book. I found Waterstone's writing style a little clunky and sometimes the chatty, anecdotal musings are a bit frustrating. It is quite a quick easy read if reading for pleasure though, and I think the actual business chapters of the story might be useful for someone looking for a few real life case studies for a business studies type course, alongside textbooks and coursework.
August 31, 2025
A well-written book about life and business. Very well read by the author for an audio version. Waterstones is an iconic chain on British high street, so the founder and the author of this book is not an ordinary person - Tim Waterstones is smart, knowledgeable, amazingly well-read, with a good sense of humour and the attitude of achieving one’s goals, living the life to its potential.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews