Have you ever wondered what it takes to run an ultramarathon? Find out more at this sociable evening at Steyning Athletic Club with writer and runner Matt Whyman, whose new book ‘Failure is an Option’ is the story of an average runner who sets out to discover just how far he can go. With the support (and misgivings) of his family, and aware that his quickest years are behind him, Matt Whyman leaves the Saturday morning 5K to push towards 100-mile ultramarathons and beyond. By slowing things down to run a very long way, he joins a growing number of men and women from all walks of life striving to do something extraordinary. Warm, witty, entertaining and at times, deeply moving, Matt’s story will have you rooting for him, as he travels far beyond his comfort zone and sets his sights on a six-day mountain ultra that even hardened veterans consider to be the most formidable on earth: the Dragon’s Back Race. Copies of ‘Failure is an Option’ will be on sale for the ticket-holders bonus price of £10 (RRP £12.99). EVENING FORMAT: Doors open 7.30pm, refreshments (wine/ soft drinks & nibbles) will be served, interview with Matt from 7.45pm followed by Q & A, then book signing. Tickets: Steyning Athletic Club members £3 / general admission £5
It’s AGES since we’ve had a kids holiday activity, because of you-know-what! So, we are excited to announce that we’ll be celebrating all things SPRING with stories, games and a craft activity for children aged 4-7, on Wednesday 20th April at 11am.
Space is limited so 15 children is the max!
There will be an indoor and outdoor element, if the weather is fine, so dress accordingly. Free refreshments for hens & chicks! £3 per child, gives discount against book purchase.
Come and meet Julia Donaldson at the Steyning Bookshop on Saturday 5th March, from 2pm onwards, to celebrate the release of her 2 wonderful new books A Pocketful of Songs and Mole’s Spectacles. For COVID safety, this event will be organised in timed slots, each 40 minutes long, admitting 20 families per 40 minutes. Your ticket booking entitles entry to the signing for 1 family group of up to 5 people, and includes a copy of either Pocketful of Songs (£14.99 ticket) Mole’s Spectacles (£6.99 ticket) , or both books (£21.98 ticket)
Additional Julia D books for signing can be purchased at the bookshop on the day – we will have a huge selection of ALL Julia’s books on display for customers to browse, buy and get signed, but if there is a particular book that you really want, you can add it to your ticket order by phoning the shop on 01903 812062 or shopping via our website here, selecting LOCAL PICKUP as your delivery option, and adding in the ORDER NOTES that you’ll be collecting it at the signing.
We are sorry, but we cannot allow customers to bring books from home for signing by Julia.
There will be activities for children while they wait to meet Julia!
Pocketful of Songs is the latest collection of Julia’s songs, including family favourites from Stick Man and Superworm to Tiddler and The Highway Rat, collected in a beautiful hardback gift edition, richly illustrated by Axel Scheffler and accompanied by a CD featuring Julia Donaldson herself performing the songs, which will have the whole family singing and clapping along. The book also includes music scores for piano and guitar.
Mole’s Spectacles is the 7th book in Julia and Axel’s beloved Acorn Wood series, perfect for pre-schoolers, produced in sturdy board book format with fun flaps to lift on every page…. Mole has lost his spectacles. He searches all around his house, in the garden and even in Weasel’s sweetshop, but he can’t find them anywhere! Where could they be? Lift the flaps to help him find them!
We are delighted that our favourite thriller writer, Elly Griffiths, will join us live on Zoom, to discuss The Locked Room – the 14th novel in her bestselling ‘Ruth Galloway’ series. Proceedings will be ably managed by fellow crime writer, William Shaw.
Wednesday 9th February, 7.30pm, Online via Zoom.
Tickets are £5, and ticket-holders are entitled to £5 off a SIGNED copy of The Locked Room – please pop in or call the bookshop to arrange your signed (and name-dedicated, if you wish!) copy. Ticket holders will receive an email with the Zoom link after booking. Click HERE to book! Or the button below!
The Locked Room sees Ruth and her daughter return to their Norfolk cottage, only for COVID to strike. While Ruth struggles with home schooling, she and her daughter strike up a friendship with the new next door neighbour, Zoe. Meanwhile, Nelson is investigating a series of mysterious deaths, women who may, or may not have died by suicide. An archaeological discovery unearthed during the investigation leads Nelson to Ruth’s door – breaking curfew – where Nelson finds Ruth chatting to her neighbour …a woman Nelson recalls from a long ago case….
What better way to mark the start of the Festive Season? Come and meet Julia Donaldson as she celebrates the release of two magical, Christmassy new books …
In 2020, Julia was commissioned to write a poem in honour of the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree, an annual gift to the UK from Norway. Now, this delightful, rhyming poem, which follows the journey of a little pine tree from the deep Norwegian forest to the sparkling bright centre of London, is released as a beautiful hardback book, with gorgeous, atmospheric illustrations by Norwegian artist Victoria Sandøy. The Christmas Pine is a modern Christmas classic!
‘Squirrel’s Snowman‘ is a brand new addition to Julia Donaldson’s well-loved Acorn Wood series, with charming illustrations by Axel Scheffler. In chunky board-book format, with flaps to lift on every page and a darling rhyming story which follows Squirrel and her friends as they try to collect all they need to build a snowman, this is a festive, snowy treat for toddlers!
How does the book-signing work?
The signing is organised in timed slots, from 10am onwards, ending at 1.45pm, to limit queues and crowding.
1 ticket booking admits 1 family group of up to 5 people (1/2 adults and up to 3 children).
Each ticket includes either 1 copy of The Christmas Pine (£12.99) or 1 copy of Squirrel’s Snowman (£6.99)
Additional books can be purchased at the Steyning Bookshop on the day of the signing.
Free refreshments and activities for children are included.
We are sorry, but only these pre-ordered books plus books purchased on the day at the Steyning Bookshop will be signed by Julia.
An exciting chance to meet the man behind the famous name – Alastair Sawday is most famous for his ‘Special Places to Stay’ series of hotel guides, but he has also created a very successful publishing firm, with a popular online presence, and is a passionate environmental activist. Alastair will speak about his travels, his writing & publishing work, his activism & involvement with the Soil Association, and his commitment to an eco-friendly way of life. The evening will include drinks & a finger buffet. The Steyning Bookshop will be on hand selling copies of Alastair’s books.
We are thrilled to announce a very special performance by legendary Punk Poet Attila the Stockbroker, celebrating National Poetry Day on Thursday October 7th. Attila will perform pieces from ‘Heart on his Sleeve‘, his newly published anthology of writings from the last 40 years. If we are lucky, and in keeping with the ancient church venue, Attila may also whip out his crumhorn or pluck his mandocello, for a couple of numbers from his band Barnstormer 1649‘s 2018 album, ‘Restoration Tragedy‘ – where Early Music meets punk! Attila will be ably supported by Steyning wordsmith Simon Zec. Copies of ‘Heart on his Sleeve‘ as well as Attila’s albums and merchandise will be on sale and Attila will be happy to sign & dedicate the books. Tasty local beers by RIVERSIDE BREWERY (& soft drinks) will be on sale, card or cash payments will be accepted.
About Attila the Stockbroker Irrepressible, energetic and impassioned, Son of Southwick Attila the Stockbroker is both a local, and a global, legend! He is a poet, musician, journalist and political activist, who has spent forty years touring the world performing his unique brand of spoken word, poetry and music. Having played almost four thousand gigs in twenty four countries, releasing countless books and records along the way, Attila’s Collected Works has just been published by Cherry Red Books, the book arm of the celebrated independent record label which released his early 80s albums and his 2015 autobiography ‘Arguments Yard.’ A stalwart of the international spoken word circuit, an established Glastonbury regular, much loved at Brighton And Hove Albion Football Club, co-organiser of Glastonwick beer and music festival, Attila The Stockbroker remains as focused and active as ever, and continues to perform to audiences across the world, including a run of successful recent online lockdown shows.
COVID precautions St Andrews Church is a spacious, well-ventilated venue, which we selected especially in order to be COVID-safe. Seating is not numbered or allocated, you may choose where to sit. Please be mindful of others and space yourselves sensibly.
Essential reading for anyone feeling full of despair in these difficult times, Dutch historian Rutger Bregman’s fresh take on human nature is heartening and optimistic.
From Machiavelli to Hobbes, Freud to Dawkins, in religion, fiction, science, psychology and sociology, we have been taught that human beings are by nature selfish and governed by self-interest. In ‘Humankind’, Rutger Bregman makes a revolutionary new argument: People are essentially GOOD, and their actions naturally tend towards kindness and altruism.
Chapter by chapter, going back through 200,000 years of human history, Bregman re-evaluates and re-examines some of the most famously pessimistic events and case-studies; from the real-life Lord of the Flies to the Blitz, a Siberian fox farm to an infamous New York murder, Stanley Milgram’s Yale shock machine to the Stanford prison experiments, he finds persuasive new evidence for humanity’s essential decency. If we begin to believe in fundamental human kindness and altruism, we may be able to achieve true change in society.
An exciting new standalone fantasy adventure from the inventive imagination of Vashti Hardy, author of ‘Brightstorm’ and Wildspark’ and one of our FAVOURITE local authors, who is just going from strength to strength!
Orin Crowfall lives on the island of Ironhold, an orderly island committed to industry, with a strict hierarchical structure, where everyone knows their place. Ironholders pride themselves in their taming and harnessing of nature, reflected in their motto “industry brings prosperity”. Sensitive Orin is employed as a server to the elite Engineers, the rulers of Ironhold, but his first love is nature – he has a talent for nurturing plants, and he has made an incredible discovery – at the very heart of Ironhold is a living, natural being – the Eard – which nourishes and provides for the Island. When Orin uncovers a dark secret about the Engineers relationship with the Eard, both his life and the future of Ironhold are in grave danger, and he must flee for his life!
Orin and his animatronic robot friend Cody escape Ironhold on a small boat, but are pursued by a terrifying sea monster and buffeted by tremendous storms until they find themselves washed up on the shores of an incredible new island world …The island of Natura seems like a paradise, but who can Orin trust, and how will he return to Ironhold and save his family before everything is destroyed?
A really enjoyable story, full of excitement, with plucky, lovable characters, and Vashti Hardy’s characteristic gift for incredible world-building, ‘Crowfall’ is also a powerful environmental fable with a thought-provoking message about ecological balance.
Sarah Moss is a writer of rare accomplishment whose mastery of the messy complexities of the interior monologue is pitch-perfect. ‘Summerwater’ is an intense, beautifully-written, and devastating story, set over a 24-hour period in a faded Scottish cabin park.
As the rain hammers down outside, in short vignettes we are introduced to the inhabitants of the holiday cabins; a woman goes running up the Ben as if fleeing; a teenage boy chances the dark waters of the loch in his kayak; a retired couple head out despite the downpour, driving too fast on the familiar bends…. Nobody has any phone signal, and the world feels very far away, leading to a claustrophobic sense of dread… we know something bad is going to happen, but to whom.. and when?
There are tender moments – Moss is an astute observer of family life and domestic tensions, there is acerbic humour, there are moments of limpid beauty in her observations of nature, and bubbling throughout, the tensions between this group of strangers simmer and then boil over…. No more spoilers – you HAVE TO read it!
When Isobel Petty is orphaned, she finds herself being taken away from her home in India and sent to live with a distant uncle in England. On board the S.S. Marianna, she witnesses a shocking act – somebody being thrown overboard in the middle in the night. But when the ship’s captain insists that nobody is missing, Isobel and her two new reluctant friends must solve two mysteries – the identities of both the murderer and the victim – before they reach England and the culprit has the chance to escape.
Isobel is a brilliantly created unlikeable heroine, victim of a childhood both indulged and ignored, who gradually has her sharp corners knocked off by the two long suffering friends she has met on the voyage, and by the life lessons that she learns along the way. Inspired by The Secret Garden and the golden age of crime writing, The Secret Detectives is perfect for fans of Robin Stevens and Katherine Rundell. For children aged 9 upwards who like historical fiction and a good long read with plenty of mystery and humour.
A real gem! Lissa Evan is a supremely gifted writer – astute, funny and warm – for both children and adults. We loved her comedic novel, ‘Crooked Heart’, which introduced Vee, a suburban con-woman, and ultrabright orphan Noel as they joined forces in the unlikely setting of Hampstead village during the second World War. Following on, ‘Old Baggage’ told the tale of Noel’s Suffragist godmother Mattie, and now we are back with Vee and Noel towards the end of the war when, unsurprisingly, their lives become even more complicated….
It’s late 1944. Hitler’s rockets are slamming down on London with vicious regularity and it’s the coldest winter in living memory. Allied victory is on its way, but it’s bloody well dragging its feet.
In a large house next to Hampstead Heath, Vee Sedge is just about scraping by, with a herd of lodgers to feed, and her young charge Noel ( almost fifteen ) to clothe and educate. When she witnesses a road accident and finds herself in court, the repercussions are both unexpectedly marvellous and potentially disastrous – disastrous because Vee is not actually the person she’s pretending to be, and neither is Noel.
A nail-bitingly thrilling survival drama for readers of 8-12 years by the author of ‘The Boy in the Tower’.
Rule Number 1: Always be Prepared…. Billy’s mum isn’t like the other mums. She’s a scientist, for starters, and takes Billy out of school to train him in the Rules of Survival. But after her obsession goes too far, Billy is sent to Bristol, to live with a dad he barely knows.
Billy settles in well and even makes his first ever friends, but his new, life is rudely interrupted by a strange and terrifying phenomenon … is it a virus? An alien shape-shifting life form? People are turning into strange, scary grey creatures and chaos is breaking out. Billy, his dad, and his new friends have to flee the city. Billy realises that THIS is what his mum was preparing him for. Can Billy reach his mum’s ‘Safe Haven’ in time, and will she even be there? Can he reunite his family … and where are his friends?
Exciting, powerful and emotional; a perfect book for fans of Ross Welford.
One of the best middle-grade fiction novels I have read this year! An exciting science fiction thriller for ages 9+.
In a bleak future world, torn apart by a civil war between humans and advanced A.I robots, some scavenging children come across a cute little robot, locked in a basement. Adam 2 has been locked away for 200 years, and knows nothing of the war between robots and humankind. He has been programmed to faithfully serve humans, and quickly bonds with the children. Soon, by virtue of his human-style loyalty, he is accepted into the human camp.
Adam’s unique position – trusted by the humans, yet essentially an A.I, earns him friends & enemies in both camps, and it becomes clear that he holds the key to the war, and the power to end it – to destroy one side and save the other. But which side is right? Adam must decide who – and what – he really is.
A really thrilling story, full of thought-provoking issues, and Adam 2 is a truly unforgettable and adorable character. Will appeal to fans of Philip Reeve.
It has been a strange old year, beginning with the third lockdown, from January to April, which saw all of our bookshop staff continuing to beaver away, behind closed doors. It is amazing, in hindsight, how busy we remained while the shop was ostensibly ‘shut’ – first and foremost with website orders for signed & name-dedicated Julia Donaldson books – with our heartfelt thanks to Julia Donaldson, who spent every evening (apart from Sundays. We gave her a break on Sundays) inscribing names on books! Then there were phone and email orders from our dear, loyal customers, which were, as ever, a fun challenge, not to mention trying to make World Book Day a thing, while shut – we eventually put the World Book Day books out on our porch for children to help themselves! We are very grateful, too, to the local schools who kept us busy with orders and topic lists – Gudrun enjoyed the challenge of selecting a huge order of books based on their ‘Accelerated Reader’ level!
March saw us experimenting with more ‘Virtual Events’ – a lively discussion on Zoom with local thriller writers Elly Griffiths and William Shaw was well-attended, and then our book group welcomed historical thriller writer Lucy Jago to talk about her powerful and fascinating historical novel ‘A Net for Small Fishes’. Julia Donaldson’s name dedication offer drew to a close in early March, with a crazy flurry of orders from, it seemed, hundreds of physician mums, who had shared our website link in their Facebook group, and then we had just a couple of weeks to try to get the shop looking its best in time for the grand reopening in April!
With typical bad timing, the shop refitting of lighting and carpets – which necessitated removing ALL the books and most of the shelving – coincided with Gudrun’s house move, so we were a woman down for the big refit – Sara, Rob, Gill, Sarah & Alice worked like trojans to get everything back in place for April 12th, the re-opening date. They managed it with their sanity just about intact, and the shop, with sparkling new lighting, smooth new grey carpet, and rearranged shelving, has never looked better!
It was truly wonderful to be open again and get back to face-to-face bookselling! As schools re-opened we had quite a rush of publisher ‘virtual event’ offers for schools, so began to dip our toes into these strange new waters – we figured out a way to offer the virtual event books to parents via our website, and it all worked quite well! We’ve had virtual school events with Vashti Hardy, Jenny Pearson, Sophy Henn, Thiago de Moraes, and A.M Howell during May, June & July.
April saw more virtual events – Steyning Bookshop favourite Claire Fuller joined us on Zoom for a book-group style event, talking about her Women’s Prize-nominated novel ‘Unsettled Ground’, this was a really interesting evening, and Claire was, as ever, a really friendly and thoughtful interviewee. The bookshop staff definitely think there is something to be said for these virtual events – feels like a holiday NOT having to hulk boxes of books, wine & glasses down to our studio venue! And sitting on your own sofa in your PJ’s while interviewing an author is quite a strange sensation!
June drew to an end here in a burst of exciting activity as we celebrated Independent Bookshop Week and had our first live signings for over a year, in the bookshop garden which is looking a bit better than usual this year thanks to ministrations by author and illustrator Emily Gravett’s good gardener chum Sophie – love that we even have a book connection with our gardener! In the preceding week we had the excitement of hosting an online interview by Gudrun with wonderful Esther Freud, and then the first day of Indie Bookshop Week was super exciting too as we took part in a very special multi bookshop online launch of Julia Donaldson’s gorgeous new book The Woolly Bear Caterpillar, with Julia and Malcolm broadcasting from the bookshop. And there were surprise roles for Rob and for me reading the lines of two of the caterpillars! Fame at last! Despite weather warnings, our three garden events that week were fine. Absolutely lovely families came to the Woolly Bear Caterpillar signing by Julia, with jolly caterpillar-y activities and delicious caterpillar shaped biscuits to keep everyone going, as starstruck children chatted to Julia and heard Malcolm singing their favourite songs. On the last Saturday of IBW young science enthusiasts were treated in the morning to a fun fact-filled event by Dr Liam Drew introducing his new book The Brain published by Dorling Kindersley and in the afternoon we had more lovely families arriving with starstruck children when Liz Pichon of Tom Gates fame paid her first visit here for many a year. Her new in paperback book Shoe Wars had given her free rein to wear and bring some amazing fantasy shoes, and Gudrun, her son Otto and amazing young helper Ellie Aungier laid on some great shoe related craft activities including customising kids’ own trainers. An action-packed week was rounded off by the bookshop opening on the Sunday to sell the ticket/brochures for our Steyning in Bloom Garden Tour and finding the day more dramatic than expected with road blocks, sirens and helicopters galore after the illegal Steyning Rave on the Saturday night. Tour visitors peering at their gardens maps found themselves alongside bedraggled ravers searching for their cars – one raver was heard to say – “I left it in a road with trees in it”. Thanks to Jo Gordon and Steyning for Trees their search was probably quite a challenge! Hard to find a road without trees now.
To celebrate the lovely honour of being the Crime Writer Association’s Bookshop of the Month for July 2021, we wanted to celebrate crime writing! So we are delighted that thriller writer & journalist Lucy Atkins will be Zooming in to discuss her fourth novel, the critically-acclaimed thriller ‘Magpie Lane’. Lucy will be joined by wonderful writer William Shaw, with his interviewing hat on.
This will be a kind of ‘Open Book Group’ style event – 2 of our book groups will be reading ‘Magpie Lane’, we are very happy to invite non book-group members to join the event but we strongly recommend that you read the book first, as there may be SPOILERS and we can’t have that with a thriller!
Lucy Atkins is an award winning British author and journalist. She has written four novels, most recently the critically acclaimed MAGPIE LANE. Many of her books are published internationally and THE NIGHT VISITOR (2017) has been optioned for television. Lucy teaches on the Creative Writing Masters degree at the University of Oxford. She was a judge for the 2017 Costa Book Awards , and is a book critic for The Sunday Times. She has lived in Boston, Seattle and Philadelphia, and is now based in Oxford, with her family and her dog.
About Magpie Lane
When the eight-year-old daughter of an Oxford College Master vanishes in the middle of the night, police turn to the Scottish nanny, Dee, for answers.
As Dee looks back over her time in the Master’s Lodging – an eerie and ancient house – a picture of a high achieving but dysfunctional family emerges: Nick, the fiercely intelligent and powerful father; his beautiful Danish wife Mariah, pregnant with their child; and the lost little girl, Felicity, almost mute, seeing ghosts, grieving her dead mother.
But is Dee telling the whole story? Is her growing friendship with the eccentric house historian, Linklater, any cause for concern? And most of all, why was Felicity silent?
Roaming Oxford’s secret passages and hidden graveyards, Magpie Lane explores the true meaning of family – and what it is to be denied one.
Our kids author event this summer on FRIDAY 20th AUGUST at 11 am in our lovely bookshop garden will be lots of ROARING good fun! We are thrilled to welcome illustrator / author VICKY WOODGATE back for a dino-tastic event celebrating her new book ‘A World of Dinosaurs’. Expect lots of Cool Facts, LIVE Drawing and a Roaring Quiz with amazing competition giveaway signed prints!
Tickets are just £4 per child – and ticket-bearers get £4 OFF Vicky’s book. Free refreshments for children.
Book in store, call 01903 812062, or online via Ticketsource (incurs a small booking fee)
Celebrate Independent Bookshop Week with Julia Donaldson, in the comfort of your own home!
Saturday 19th June, 10.30am to 11.30am.
Join Julia Donaldson for this special one-off live, online event. Julia will read her latest stories, including ‘The Woolly Bear Caterpillar’, perform songs accompanied by her husband, Malcolm, and answer questions from the audience. The event will stream live via Zoom, in a collaboration with Wee Three Indies, At Home with 4 Indies, and The Steyning Bookshop.
Tickets £5 Or FREE when you order one of the following books from the Steyning Bookshop:
The Woolly Bear Caterpillar by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Yuval Zommer – £12.99** The Hospital Dog by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Sara Ogilvie – £6.99 The Scarecrow’s Wedding by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler – £6.99
Please book your event access ticket here or by calling us on 01903 812062. If you would like to purchase one of the 3 books, you will get £5 off the book price if you state that you are an event ticket-holder. You can purchase the books + postage via our website store, in person at the shop, or by telephone. If purchasing via our website we will manually adjust the price so do mention in the ORDER NOTES that you are a ticket-holder.
Meet Julia Donaldson at her first ‘in-person’ book-signing for more than a year, as she celebrates the launch of her new picture book, The Woolly Bear Caterpillar, wonderfully illustrated by Yuval Zommer. This charming ‘Ugly Duckling’ style story is full of facinating nature facts and even includes a mini-book of bug facts by Michael Blencowe, from Sussex Wildlife Trust. The signing will take place under shelter in the garden of the Steyning Bookshop, in timed 30-minute slots from 3.30pm onwards on Thursday 24th June 2021. Tickets are £12.99 which includes 1 copy of The Woolly Bear Caterpillar for signing. 1 ticket booking admits 1 family group of up to 5 (1 adult / 4 kids or 2 adults, up to 3 kids). There will be no more than 25 bookings per 30 minute slot to avoid long queues.
To book online (booking fee applies): 3.30pm slot click here
A fun, fact-filled interactive event for families with children aged 7-11. Neurobiologist turned writer Liam Drew will introduce curious kids and budding scientists to the amazing & mysterious world of the brain. Starting with the weird and wonderful brains of different animals, we’ll look at how information gets into the brain, then how our brains learn, make memories, and think. We’ll look, too, at emotions, sleep, and how we are all unique – with lots of time for questions and conversation!
To take place in the Steyning Bookshop back garden marquee, at 11am on Saturday 26th June.
Family tickets £10 per family. Includes a copy of The Brain Book by Dr Liam Drew.
Exclusive – this is Liz Pichon’s first live ‘real-life’ event for a year!
Meetbest-selling ‘Tom Gates’ author LIZ PICHON for a special book-signing to celebrate the paperback release of ‘Shoe Wars‘, her hilarious new book – chockful of crazy cartoons, bursting with invention and packed with mad gadgets! On Saturday 26th June, from 3pm.
Book-signing will take place under shelter in the beautiful back garden at the Steyning Bookshop, with appropriate social-distancing measures. Signing will be in 30 minute slots with no more than 25 bookings per slot. 1 booking costs £7.99 and includes a paperback copy of ‘Shoe Wars’ for signing. 1 small family group of 1-5 people constitutes 1 booking. The Steyning Bookshop will have copies of all Liz Pichon’s books on sale for signing. Customers may not bring their own books from home for signing.
We are so excited that renowned, award-winning novelist Esther Freud is to join us LIVE for a VIRTUAL EVENT on Zoom, to discuss her new novel I Couldn’t Love You More – an unforgettable novel about love, motherhood, secrets and betrayal.
This will be a kind of ‘Open Book Group’ style event – we invite you to read the book first and then join our 3 book groups online, where after a short interview, Esther will be happy to take questions from audience members. The event price of £15 INCLUDES a hardback copy of I Couldn’t Love You More, so when you pre-order the book with us, do mention that you are a ticket-holder! You can book here or call us on 01903 812062.
Esther Freud’s cult first novel Hideous Kinky was shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys prize and made into a film starring Kate Winslet. After publishing her second novel, Peerless Flats, she was chosen as one of Granta’s Best of Young British novelists along with Kazuo Ishiguro and Jeanette Winterson. Her last novel, Mr Mac and Me, won Best Novel in the East Anglian Book Awards. I Couldn’t Love You More is her ninth novel.
We are thrilled that award-winning novelist Claire Fuller is going to join us for a virtual event on Wednesday April 21st, to discuss her latest amazing novel ‘Unsettled Ground’. This will be a kind of ‘Open Book Group’ style event – we invite you to read the book first and then join our 3 book groups online, where after a short interview, Claire will be happy to take questions and respond to your observations.
Claire Fuller is a firm favourite of all our staff and book group members here at the Steyning Bookshop. She came to Steyning to discuss her gripping, unsettling debut novel ‘Our Endless Numbered Days’ with our book group, and then returned to tell us about ‘Swimming Lessons’, her beautifully written second novel. We sadly missed a visit for ‘Bitter Orange’ her darkly simmering third novel (which I adored!) so we are really looking forward to welcoming Claire back, albeit virtually, to talk about her new novel ‘Unsettled Ground’, published on March 25th.
‘Unsettled Ground’ is a beautifully-observed portrait of lives lived at the fringe of society, and what happens when those edges fray. The central characters, 51 year-old twins, Julius and Jeanie, have lived a sheltered rural existence with their mother, Dot, surviving hand-to-mouth on what they can earn from their garden produce and odd farming jobs. When Dot dies suddenly, the twins are forced to confront the outside world, and long-kept secrets begin to surface, casting doubt on family truths and shattering their precarious existence.
Claire Fuller was born in Oxfordshire, England, in 1967. She gained a degree in sculpture from Winchester School of Art, but went on to have a long career in marketing and didn’t start writing until she was forty. She has written three previous novels: Our Endless Numbered Days, which won the Desmond Elliott Prize, Swimming Lessons, which was shortlisted for the RSL Encore Award, and Bitter Orange. She has an MA in Creative and Critical Writing from the University of Winchester and lives in Hampshire with her librarian husband. You can visit Claire’s website here!
Call us on 01903 812062 to purchase your copy of ‘Unsettled Ground’ and register to join the event, OR buy online via our website here!
A moving and exciting story of brotherhood, friendship & the power of dreams!
Imagine having the ability to step inside your dreams, to consciously control the action and the setting, and even meet your friends there! When 11-year-old Malky accidentally steals a strange device, the ‘Dreaminator’, he and his younger brother Seb begin sharing wild dream adventures…. But the device is unstable, and soon things take a nightmarish turn, with Seb lying in a coma, trapped in his dream, and Malky awake and unable to reach him. With the help of his friend Tenzin, her mystical Tibetan grandma, and a dying old man, Malky must face his darkest unconscious fears and take a leap into the void.
This is an absolutely BRILLIANT rollercoaster adventure, fast-paced, funny, inventive and heartfelt. Ross Welford’s cast of quirky and lovable characters and warm humour manage to make an unbelievable story completely plausible. I have adored ALL Ross Welford’s books, but I think this one just may be my favourite!
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11th December, 2024, Steyning Bookshop