Jordan LaHaye Fontenot
Step into Downtown Lafayette’s newest retail space with your mind an open book—“I want to read something new, but I don’t know what”—and you’ll find the staff at Beausoleil Bookstore well-read on the subject. What genres do you like? Something old or something new? Paperback?
And Bryan, well, he keeps tabs on the local interest section—which, naturally, extends into French literature.
The room—purple floors, wooden bookshelves, antique sofa and all—is a conglomeration of the four owners’ expertise and passions. James curated the sci-fi section and is an expert on historical nonfiction. Blair’s got your romance novels under wraps. Endya unapologetically loves young adult novels in between her more serious reading on today’s social issues. And Bryan, well, he keeps tabs on the local interest section—which, naturally, extends into French literature.
For Bryan Dupree, the opportunity to help promote French literacy in Acadiana was a huge part of the draw to open up Beausoleil, which he did with his husband, James, and their two friends in October 2020. But it was also a chance to bring new retail activity to Lafayette’s more restaurant-laden downtown area, as well as to offer a daytime gathering space for locals and visitors alike.
[Read about the importance of independent bookstores here.]
“I felt that we really needed a place that exuded our French-ness downtown,” said Dupree, who is a direct descendant of the bookstore’s namesake, the Cajun folk hero Joseph “Beausoleil” Broussard. “Upon researching, we realized that Lafayette is the largest city in South Louisiana without an independent bookstore.”
Jordan LaHaye Fontenot
And in a city like Lafayette, which Dupree describes as especially enthusiastic about supporting small businesses, the very human and regionally-specific experience of a boutique bookstore fits right in. “There are real people choosing each book in the store,” he said. “There is this customization and attention to detail that can only be provided in a small shop. We literally hand pick books for our customers.”
“There is this customization and attention to detail that can only be provided in a small shop. We literally hand pick books for our customers.” -Bryan Dupree
Not only this, but with eight attuned ears, Beausoleil’s owners intentionally work to provide a selection that suits Lafayette’s specific tastes, offering forms for customers to submit their requests. “For instance, we’ve recently expanded our books on the subject of design,” explained Dupree. “Local design consultants would come in and say, ‘You know, you should really carry this author!’ So, the books we carry are chosen for the community, but they are also very much chosen by the community.”
Jordan LaHaye Fontenot
Opening up a brick-and-mortar, page-and-cover bookstore in the age of screens and scrolling (and in a pandemic, no less) is an act of faith in the power of the tangible, the sensory, the analog. “It’s the feeling of turning pages,” said Dupree. “Turning them yourself. . . making the discovery yourself. You’ve got to have a customer base that appreciates the written word on paper, as it was originally intended.”
[Read our end-of-2020 book recommendations, from our December issue, here.]
Indulging even deeper into that sensory element of reading, Beausoleil’s book club currently includes—alongside its “Book du Mois” selection—a Candle of the Month. “So December’s book was Christina Lauren’s Christmas romance, In a Holidaze,” said Dupree. “So local candlemakers Jules and Esther made a limited edition, custom candle called Holidaze, which is meant to evoke the cozy smells of the book’s cabin setting while you read.”
“It’s the feeling of turning pages,” said Dupree. “Turning them yourself. . . making the discovery yourself. You’ve got to have a customer base that appreciates the written word on paper, as it was originally intended.”
In 2021, once conditions allow for a safe opening, Beausoleil Books will also introduce its own wine bar, called The Whisper Room—where book club members can purchase a cocktail of the month to complement their Book du Mois, bringing the experience from the imagination to the nose to the tongue (and maybe even, after enough imbibing, back to the imagination). The Whisper Room will offer a space for enjoying a selection of French and Spanish wines, cocktails, and small bites—either as a stylish accompaniment to your romance novel or as fuel for much-missed conversations in cozy community spaces.
