Liz Trenow, international bestselling author of Under a Wartime Sky will be talking about this gripping and heart-breaking story of love, courage and a sister’s sacrifice which shines a light on the forgotten heroes of World War Two. Read more
Henry VIII: The Heart & the Crown is a riveting tale, and ultimately a poignant one, taking an empathetic view of a man who is all too often portrayed as a caricature of his true self. Read more
From Bridget Collins, author of breakout sensation, number 1 bestseller and bookseller favourite The Binding, comes an inventive, spellbinding blend of speculative and historical fiction. The Silence Factory is a story of complicity, desire and corruption - a novel to lose yourself in. Read more
From the winner of the 2021 Desmond Elliot Prize comes a novel of desire and destruction set in Revolutionary France and inspired by a true story. avels from the South of France to Paris and beyond, through the heart of the Revolution, The Glutton is an electric, heart-stopping journey into a world of tumult, upheaval and depravity, wherein the hunger of one peasant is matched only by the insatiable demands of the people of France. Read more
Syd Moore is back with a thrilling opener to a new historical fiction series set in WW2. The Grand Illusion is inspired by an event alleged to have taken place in the New Forest in the summer of 1940 - a spectacular magical ritual - “The Cone of Power” - that would be witnessed by German agents in the area and reported back to the Führer. Its goal: to avert invasion on British shores. Read more
Former police officer and historian Blessin Adams will introduce us to her bold, page-turning new history of traitorous wives, greedy mistresses, cunning female poisoners and spiteful witches. Sharing the stories of women whose violent crimes shattered the narrow confines of their gender – and whose notoriety revealed a society that was at once repulsed by and attracted to murderous female rebellion. Read more
Award-winning poet and playwright Clare Pollard will discuss her brilliant and bawdy, romantic and provocative, dazzling novel, The Modern Fairies which is inspired by real events, about the delights and dangers of storytelling in dark times. Read more
In partnership with Federation of Essex Women’s Institutes. The Bride Stone is a spell-binding new historical novel from multi-award-winning author Sally Gardner that opens with a ‘wife sale’ in Thetford and ends with a delicious twist. Read more
Internationally bestselling and multi-award-winning author, Chris Brookmyre, and consultant anaesthetist, Dr Marisa Haetzman are husband and wife creative duo – Ambrose Parry. Joining us to discuss the fifth and final instalment in their thrilling Raven and Fisher series, The Death of Shame is inspired by the fascinating historical facts Haetzman uncovered through her master’s degree in the History of Medicine. Read more
estselling author of the Giordano Bruno books, S. J. Parris will be joining us to discuss her latest book, Traitor’s Legacy. England, 1598. Queen Elizabeth’s successor remains unnamed. The country teeters on a knife edge. A young heiress is found murdered at the theatre. A page-turning new historical series that pitches Tudor secret agent Sophia de Wolfe into a dangerous game with the royal court. Read more