AMERICAN author Molly Murray has fulfilled her dream of opening her own book shop – in Ardrossan.

And on Saturday as a small crowd gathered to watch Seahorse Bookstore open its doors, Molly and husband Gordon were all smiles as bookworms spent the day perusing the shelves of their shop.

Claire Taylor and her daughter Jessica had the honour of cutting the ribbon after winning a competition run by Seahorse online.

As they cut the ribbon, Gordon, a former pastor in the States explained why he and Molly felt the time was right to open their bookstore.

“We want to help connect the communities in the Three Towns and become very much part of it too,” said Gordon.

“Our aim is to revive the imagination of people in the area through books and the power of discussion, at the moment, people are losing their imagination and I feel that COVID has played a big part in that.

“We chose the name Seahorse as it links closely to our location at Winton Buildings and also as it connects us to imagination as they are quite fantastic creatures.”

The bookstore is planning to host book clubs most nights and open mic sessions for musicians in the area to take part in.

On Tuesday it hosted its first open mic night which it hopes to put on every week.

One of the shop’s rooms is specifically for young readers and has a collection of toys and books for them to enjoy.

On Saturday, Molly held storytelling sessions for young visitors including her son Jack.

Molly, who was also happy to sign copies of her poetry book, Miss Diagnosis for her fans, was delighted so many people had attended the opening.

“I am so happy and humbled that people got up early to come along and support Seahorse,” beamed Molly. “We have enjoyed a lot of support from the community so far through our Facebook page and now, we have the chance to meet them in person, it’s lovely.

“When we decided to move from Montana we were

drawn to the coast and this feels like the perfect location for our bookstore and we have over 2,500 books to choose from, so there should be something to suit your reading taste.

“Let’s get people reading together.”