The Repair Shop: Tales from the Workshop of Dreams

by Karen Farrington

A celebration of the most moving stories behind the items restored in the Workshop of Dreams, updated with new tales in paperback.
Every object tells a story...
We all have treasures hidden away in the attic, well-loved and well-worn belongings that have been passed down from generation to generation. They may be damaged or no longer working, but we can't bear to part with them. The expert craftspeople of Repair Shop are dedicated to restoring and conserving these heirlooms. They know that the true worth of these possessions doesn't lie in their monetary value, but in the memories they hold and the stories they tell. In this fascinating book, you'll step inside The Repair Shop 's Workshop of Dreams to explore some of the most moving family stories from the series. From a glamorous sequinned dress that belonged to a popular traveling circus performer to a pump organ that was brought from Jamaica by a member of the Windrush generation, each family item is brought vividly to life - and lovingly restored by the team of Repair Shop experts who also contribute to these expanded stories. With a foreword by Jay Blades, Tales from the Workshop of Dreams is a heartfelt love letter to our collective past, and a fascinating slice of social history. This book features items fixed by Repair Shop experts Steve Fletcher, Will Kirk, Lucia Scalisi, Suzie Fletcher, Kirsten Ramsay, Dominic Chinea, Brenton West, Tim Gunn, Sara Dennis, Chris Shaw, Matt Nickels, Amanda Middleditch and Julie Tatchell. With great care and attention to detail, the Repair Shop team resurrect priceless pieces of family history and breathe new life into the stories they hold.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Crafts

304 pages, Paperback

First published November 5, 2020

About the author

Karen Farrington is a former journalist who has contributed to numerous publications on military history. She has also written extensively on assassinations, natural disasters, & religion.

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ =Quite Good.
Hardback.
I thoroughly enjoy watching The Repair Shop on UK tv. Every episode contains heartbreaking and heartwarming cases. It is fabulous to see the gifted craftsmen and women restore, with compassion, the items that the public bring to them.
It also helps that I find Will so incredibly dishy. He has great hands!😂

The only downside about this book was the fact that there wasn’t a great deal of information about the restoration, but more about the history of the piece. Don’t get me wrong though, this was fascinating.

[Sherrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read, choosing a variety of items restored on The Repair Shop, and giving the back story as well as describing the project. Not enough photos to accompany the text unfortunately, it needed colour pictures to accompany each story not just a few.

[Matthew Holley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm...I completely LOVE the show, but this book was not what I was expecting. I thought it was going to be the craftspeople from the shop (whom I adore) talking about their tools of the trade and experiences with the items they worked on. Instead, it’s about some of the items that have been brought in to the shop and historical background of the original owners of them, and lots about the contemporary history of the time (there’s LOTS about the two World Wars in here) and then just a bit about the repair process itself.
If you’re a history buff, you’ll probably enjoy this. If you’re like me and love Will, Kirsten, Steve, Lucia (etc etc) and are hoping to hear a lot about them, you’ll likely be disappointed.
Lastly, just a shout out to Karen Farrington, the actual writer of the book, who doesn’t get proper credit for it on the cover (or spine) of the book (or here on GoodReads!) but only on the title page inside.

[Britt-Bo · Rating 4 out of 5]

“No matter how damaged, there is always a way to bring the things you love back to life.” - Jay Blades.

For Christmas, my wonderful partner got me ‘The Repair Shop: Tales From The Workshop Of Dreams’ because I love the TV show so much. I find it so uplifting, heartwarming & inspiring.

This book tells the story behind some of the items & how their owners came to acquire them. Along with some interesting history about how the items were invented, where they originated & their general use.

I absolutely adored the beautiful foreword by Jay Blades which was so clearly written & spoken from the heart.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really enjoyable book to read.
Not only did it remind me of some of the items that had been brought to the Repair Shop for attention by the team, but there was also some historical background to each item's story. Every person had a story to tell of how their item came into their possession, and not always aa full backstory. There was also a lot of historical information behind each one, allowing the reader to taste what was going on at the time each piece was made or acquired.
A really fascinating read. It's more than just 'an item comes in and we repair it'. Each item seems to be treated with loving care and respect, and as a unique piece of craftsmanship.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone who has watched The Repair Shop will surely be amazed at the skill and craftsmanship of the artisans carrying out repairs to a wide variety of objects, some of which only have emotional value to the owners. This book is divided into chapters each of which recounts the story of the item in more detail than we generally receive in the program with a shorter description of the repair. I found the backstories fascinating and some certainly bring a lump to the throat. At the beginning of the TV program, Jay Blades reminds us that in today's throw-away world there are some objects which simply carry too many memories to discard and the stories in this book demonstrate just why this is so. A thoroughly pleasant and fascinating read, I really enjoyed the book.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book covers several of the pieces featured on the television show, delving into the history surrounding them, with some extensive research carried out. Each chapter, of which there are 19, is devoted to a different item, with a large section covering its history, and how and why it ended up at The Repair Shop. The last section of each chapter briefly talks about how the item was repaired or restored, but doesn't really go into enough depth for my liking. There are printed black and white photos and line drawings through the text and two sections of colour photos as well.
This was much better than the first Repair Shop book, but I think they should have one which shows the repair process in much more detail with sequences of photos and detailed descriptions.

[Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

TV tie-ins have a reputation for being rushed out, mass market, bland and shallow. THE REPAIR SHOP could be described as any of those things, except maybe bland, because it's far more interesting than I expected. TV host Blades provides a cursory foreword, and then we're into write-ups of various items and their human histories that have appeared on the show at one point or other. The brunt of the writing lies in the histories, many of which are based around the mid 20th century and invariably, as a result, involve WW2. Some are more interesting than others, but the author does well to pack in the detail and human colour, with the effect that this is a breezy read.

[David Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, I must say I'm a Repair Shop addict. Although I'm useless at DIY sort of stuff I love watching the craftsmen and craftswomen doing amazing work on a huge selection of items.

But you won't get tips and tricks here - I think another Repair Shop book covers that. Here you'll read about social history - much of it centred around the World Wars. And it's fascinating and enlightening. Easy reading but memorable. Each item featured is so special even if some were once quite everyday There's only time on the tv programme for a little of what's in this book.

A very fine read. Get this book. It won't make you any better at DIY but it will educate and inform.

[Yvonne Clemson · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were one of two items in here that I'd missed on the TV version, so it wasn't all a repeat! I enjoyed the way it went into far more detail than is possible on TV, and gave a huge amount of social history, the lives of the basic everyday people, that often gets missed in life. I learnt a lot. Would have liked a little more detail of exactly how the repairs were done and mord personal touches from the repairers, but it was very readable, and I loved being able to discuss it with my autistic dyslexic son, who loves the show and was very keen to get the book!

[Ingrid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every object tells a story indeed, and is embedded in a wider social frame and in History. This book puts every object in a context, telling tales of local history as relating to the bigger picture. Good research, though spelling is not always there. Recommended reading to get snippets of unexpected things and a bit of time travel. It shows the heroes are not only those on the front line, that extraordinary things happen to ordinary people, and that the most inconspicuous object can hold a story of daring, willpower, resilience, beauty and so much more.

[Marian Jarvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A leisurely read. I liked the way the history of the original items was described which meant learning more about events in the past. This was followed by the way each item was restored but not in too much detail to make it tedious. A very "dippable" book as it's divided into short sections on each artefact.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the programme, but this book is more about the history of each item. Much more of a story is told than in the programme and just a couple of chapters at the end for the repair. But it’s still interesting.

[Rosie Latham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the Repair Shop and this book about the back story regarding the items brought in and a bit of history is a real treat to read.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting back stories of some of the items that came in for restoration. No details of the tools, techniques or even the guys that do all the hard work.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such great research, a lovely bit of social history.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has been on my to-read pile for months and just didn't find it nearly as engaging as the show, THAT I LOVE!

[Mark waite · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book revelling the history behind the items but would of benefitted from more about the restorations and the skilled restorers themselves

[Paul Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed it but to much emphasis on back story and not enough on the repaired items. Not enough photos, before during after!

[Issie Fraser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life of clever craft people.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read, giving a good behind the scenes look into the television programme.

[Carole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not what I had expected as it gave a lot of history for the context of the item. Since I had seen some of the shows that featured these items, it was interesting to a point.

[Rebecca Pappas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book and this show and everything they do. You can watch them work on The Repair Shop on Amazon Prime live tv or search for the show.

[Mr Michael R Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Readers expecting to pick up tips and techniques will be disappointed, this book tells the story behind the objects brought in for repair.
An avid watcher of the programme I recognise all the items for repair and thoroughly enjoyed reading the stories behind them.

[Laurie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the show, watch it all the time. This book has highlights, but it's so dry. They don't talk about the repairs as much as they go into way to much history that doesn't deal directly with the family or object. It makes me rethink reading any of the others that have to deal with the show.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable

Good book, but not one I would read more than once.
From a good TV series. 4 stars from me

[Rubina Savage · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a fan of The Repair Shop. This book did a good job of explaining the history behind each of the objects repaired. Informative as well as enjoyable.

[james allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book

Back storys on the repairs with relevant history lessons. No shortage of critical commentary of British actions. Well done, Ms. Farrington!