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Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, stood at the front of a new bookstore in the oceanside enclave of Summerland, California over the weekend and recalled the last time she set foot in a similar spot. It was back in 2019, during a covert trip to New York from the UK to watch her friend, Serena Williams, play in the U.S. Open. She stayed for a night in the West Village with another friend, designer Misha Nonoo; before anybody knew Meghan was in town, she went for a walk to a bookstore.
“For me, sneaking to New York five years ago was a really big deal,” the duchess said, describing how she put on a cap and kept her head down. “I was still so uncomfortable being out in the world,” she continued, hinting at that fraught time in her tenure as a working royal. “The safety of what I was craving, I knew I could find in a bookstore.”
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A peek inside Godmothers, the newly opened bookstore near the Sussexes
Now Meghan has a new haven, just down the mountain from her Montecito home: Godmothers, the latest shop to open in this picturesque pocket of Santa Barbara County. Set in a stately white barn, across the street from a gas station and adjacent to a beach cafe, the bookstore is the dream of celebrated literary agent Jennifer Rudolph Walsh and cosmetics mogul Victoria Jackson. “We don’t have a town square, but Victoria and I wanted to create one, where people would come and feel welcome,” Rudolph Walsh says.
The idea of a neighborhood gathering place hits differently in this tony locale, where many boldface names have put down estate-sized roots. Consider the guest list for the Godmothers’ opening weekend. Oprah Winfrey popped by the friends and family party Friday evening, holding court underneath the string lights on the patio. Meghan was in the mix, as was Prince Harry, silently pointing to his memoir, Spare, when asked if he had a book recommendation. Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi made the rounds, as did Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and his wife, Nicole Avant, former U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas.
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The Sussexes with the founders of Godmothers, Victoria Jackson (center left) and Jennifer Rudolph Walsh (right).
Since its inception, Godmothers has been sprinkled with that Montecito magic. The idea for the name started with Harry at his Beverly Hills book party. He thanked Winfrey, Jackson, and Rudolph Walsh for their support, calling the trio his “fairy godmothers.” When plans for the bookstore took shape, Winfrey told the new shopkeepers: “There’s really only one thing you can name it: Godmothers.” Now the duke’s memoir features prominently on the store’s “Our Local Authors” display, another standard bookstore feature that gets a glow-up here. Meghan’s children’s book, The Bench, is part of the assortment, along with titles from Winfrey, Degeneres, Rob Lowe, Cameron Diaz and more.
The interior of the store rises to its clientele, the structure taken down to the studs by designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard. The main floor is a cornucopia of books, displayed artfully on dark shelves that allow the covers to pop. A large fireplace and a pair of sheepskin armchairs bring the cozy vibes, while a small stage rimmed with lights nods to the events in Godmothers’ future. Large framed photographs of prominent women through history, including Maya Angelou and Eleanor Roosevelt, line the staircase to the second floor, where members of the just-launched Founders Circle program can reserve the living room-esque gathering space (membership is $200/month for individuals, $350/month for families). Across the way is the children’s section, with a floor-to-ceiling chalkboard and board books placed on the bottom shelf, within reach of the littlest hands.
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Meghan embracing Oprah at the friends and family party for Godmothers.
Outside, a vintage Airstream serves as a food truck, helmed by a pair the founders called the Godsons: Chef Miles Robbins, son of Paramount CEO Brian Robbins, and operations head Kamil Jumale (they duo met at Ikoyi, the Michelin-star restaurant in London). Food for opening weekend offered a preview of the possible fare to come, with gourmet grilled cheese, fresh-baked matcha and white chocolate chip cookies, and creamy soft serve.
“Nobody opens bookstores,” Jackson says with a laugh when we chat ahead of the weekend, acknowledging her latest venture is not the norm in 2024. Nevertheless, she sees it as playing a needed role. “Given the times that we are in, with all that is going on in the world, it is comforting for people.”
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The Godsons, Miles Robbins (left) and Kamil Jamule (right).
If books serve as a portal to a new place, Godmothers offers a glimpse into the rarefied setting of neighboring Montecito. Perched 90 miles north and a world away from Los Angeles, with stunning views of the Pacific lined by the Santa Ynez Mountains, this stretch of coastline would draw newcomers based on geography alone. But those who live here, including the occupants of sprawling, gated properties glimpsed only from the occasional aerial shot, speak passionately about the people.
“The sense of community here is kind of wild,” says Paramount’s Robbins, who moved to Montecito with his wife, designer Tracy James, a year ago. The couple turned out for both nights of Godmothers’ opening weekend celebrations, enjoying Robbins’ son’s food and lingering beyond the programming for leisurely conversations. “Up here, there is real time for connection,” James says, a welcome change from the “little moments” she shared with lots of friends in Los Angeles. “It’s quality time.”
“It’s Mayberry for rich people!” roars actress Jane Lynch from one of the fireside armchairs. Lynch was greeted enthusiastically Friday night by Jennifer Freed, a best-selling author and Gwyneth Paltrow’s psychological astrologer, complimenting her blouse (bought that day from the Johnny Was store in town). Holding a mocktail with a sprig of rosemary in it, Lynch gushes about her chosen home. “This is the most community I’ve ever had in my life,” she says. “We all know each other. We know each other’s dogs!”
“It’s Mayberry for rich people!”
Lynch points to the unique intergenerational mix in the social scene, evident in the Godmothers gatherings. There are the Montecito elders, of which Winfrey is queen, and then there is a younger cohort, many of whom are raising children there. Among this crew, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stand out, joined by the likes of Bumble’s Whitney Wolfe Herd and Jamie Kern Lima, founder of IT Cosmetics.
True to its name, the bookstore wants to further the connection. “What is Godmothers to us?” Rudolph Walsh wonders aloud. “It’s somebody who roots for you, who supports you, who advocates for you. It’s somebody who is found family.” Later, she emphasizes the importance of reciprocity: “Many times it’s the younger person who’s teaching the older person something.” She recently joked with Harry, ahead of the prince’s upcoming birthday: “Once you turn 40, I’ve got to find new people in their 30s!”
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The Sussexes arriving at the Godmothers friends and family party on Friday night. Meghan is pictured here hugging Portia de Rossi.
On Friday, the twain mingled as the DJ took the evening’s soundtrack from Carole King to Chappell Roan. The party was in full swing when the Sussexes arrived, slipping out of a darkened Range Rover and into the evening sun-splashed store. Meghan, clad in an ivory Ralph Lauren tank and long trousers with a diamond necklace around her neck, greeted people with kisses to both cheeks, while Harry turned handshakes into back-slapping hugs. At the end of the founders’ brief remarks, as they thanked Winfrey for her support, Meghan held her hand to her mouth and let out a “Woo!” The Sussexes then spent an hour deep in several conversations, moving seamlessly from one group to the next.
Their ease meant a lot to Jackson, who has known the couple since shortly after they moved to California in 2020. “Seeing them be able to come here and be in a safe space,” she says, “it’s what we want it to be.” In turn, “their support, and the light that it will shine on Godmothers, is pretty extraordinary.”
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Jane Lynch with writer Elizabeth Holmes.
The idea for Godmothers came, as so many of these passion projects do, over lunch. In March of last year, Rudolph Walsh and Jackson started an impromptu brainstorming session at Mattei’s Tavern in Santa Ynez Valley. “Maybe a bookstore would be fun to do?” they mused. Rudolph Walsh, who had first put forth the suggestion, describes her response as a “full-body yes,” prompting a reawakening of sorts. She built a storied career as the top literary agent at the talent agency WME, publishing mega best-sellers including The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and The Glass Castle. Then she took her client list on the road, packing theaters full of fans to listen to Winfrey, as well as Glennon Doyle and Arianna Huffington.
In January 2020, Rudolph Walsh stepped down from that role, thinking she would start something new a few weeks later. Then the pandemic hit and Montecito, with its seaside air and grass-covered hills, called to her. She spent the intervening years learning to grow food and raise animals, including micro-cows, and miniature donkeys, before the idea of Godmothers took hold. “My journey is one from scale to intimacy,” she says, “from filling arenas and creating giant bestsellers to the joy of handing a book to somebody in our store and saying, ‘Here, read this. You’re going to love it.’”
Jackson has lived a life filled with entrepreneurial pursuits. Starting off as a Hollywood makeup artist, she built a billion-dollar cosmetics business in the 80s, pioneering the “no makeup makeup” phenomenon via infomercials. (She later married Bill Guthy, of Guthy-Renker fame.) Two decades later, Jackson took a sharp pivot into molecular immunology when the couple’s daughter was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder. A sexual assault survivor, Jackson has also written five books, the most recent one, We All Worry Now What?, published this month.
Jackson oversaw the decor for Godmothers, while Rudolph Walsh was in charge of books. She hand-selected the first 2,000 titles, drawing on her expertise and soliciting recommendations from friends. When someone suggested they create a “banned books” section, Rudolph Walsh declined. “We have banned books all the way through our shelves,” she says. “We’re not here to make a political statement. We’re here to make a home for people.”
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Prince Harry’s memoir Spare, on display.
The founders see their customers in three buckets: Locals, tourists, and the people they call pilgrims, who will come to Summerland specifically for Godmothers. They envision a world where everyone that walks through the doors of Godmothers is an equal, recognizable or not. “They can gather together and connect over their passions and their interests,” Rudolph Walsh says, “not over their bank account or their celebrity status.”
When starting a business, a bit of star power in your friend circle doesn’t hurt. Winfrey headlined the Saturday afternoon line-up, offering a preview of the high-profile events Godmothers plans to host going forward. The beloved talk show host did what she has done, to much acclaim, for decades, steering a moving and memorable conversation. But instead of a global television audience or a packed convention hall, she spoke for just 100 or so people in Godmothers. Her guest was best-selling author Shaka Senghor, who went to jail at the age of 19 for murder. As Senghor shared the tribulations of his lengthy prison sentence, Winfrey artfully zeroed in on a detail of his story that tied back to the bookstore. “Can we talk about the moment that the real transformation began?” she said, teeing up a letter he received in jail. “It came from a godmother.”
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Meghan spoke at the event on Saturday, thanking the bookstore founders for “for not just creating the space, but for holding the space for so many people to feel seen through the pages, either in laughter, in grief, in feeling less alone.”
Meghan was the only other VIP in the crowd filled with notable names to take the mic on Saturday. Clad in a black linen Club Monaco jumpsuit, she thanked the founders “for not just creating the space, but for holding the space for so many people to feel seen through the pages, either in laughter, in grief, in feeling less alone.” Meghan listened intently to the conversations from the front row, first from the store’s founders and then Winfrey, nodding and applauding. When it wrapped, she made a dash for the door. “Wasn’t that incredible?” she said, then added apologetically: “I’ve got to make dinner for the kids.”
Winfrey left quickly, too, but many others in the fashionable crowd lingered. Inside, they browsed and bought books, while outside on the patio they enjoyed cold drinks and one another’s company. The sun setting on the second day of celebrations, the Godmothers’ founders were aglow. “It’s what people are hungry for,” Jackson says when asked how it felt to see the neighborhood gathering spot come to life. In between hugs from guests, Rudolph Walsh smiles: “It’s almost too delicious for words.”
