The Ripped Bodice is a romance-only bookshop that opened its New York chapter only four months ago. Giulia Leo heads to Brooklyn to check it out.
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LEO 1
Everyone enters The Ripped Bodice for a different reason. Gabbi Philoips and John Lawson are here to check out the hyper-instagrammable location.
LAWSON 1
She just got this camera and I was like, ‘oh you might want to take pictures in here.’
LEO 2
A few shelves down, Chelsea Siegenfeid is browsing the endless shelves of romance books.
SIEGENFEID 1
There's LGBTQI+, there's young adult, there is erotica.
LEO 3
And then, right by a huge LGBTQ flag made entirely of flowers, there’s Paige Getty and Amanda Poppei. They traveled all the way from Washington DC just to check out the shop.
POPPEI 1
We did not come for this event. We came to the bookstore, and I looked to see what was happening when we were here.
LEO 4
Amanda is referring to the launch of Emmett happening tonight at The Ripped Bodice.
Emmett is a queer retelling of Emma. Like Jane Austen’s heroine, Emmett is entitled, preppy, and quite unlikable. At least according to author Lev A.C. Rosen.
ROSEN 1
I’ve taken the negative stereotypes about gay men and made them human.
LEO 6
Reclaiming narratives. Reclaiming the pleasure of reading romance. That’s what the Ripped Bodice is about. Whatever the reason for your visit, it is a truth universally acknowledged that you’ll exit the shop with a longer reading list.
Giulia Leo, Columbia Radio News.
