On Saturday evening my nearest indie, Hungerford Bookshop, hosted a Summer Reading celebration with five authors, some of them local, introducing their novels. It was such a delight to be invited! The rain just about held off for the duration of the outdoor event, and it was fun to learn more about new-to-me books over Pimm’s and canapes and pick up some proof copies.
Veronica Henry usually writes English countryside and coastal stories, but this time it’s Thirty Days in Paris, about Juliet, a woman of a certain age who takes a one-month rental in the city to write a novel, having amicably separated from her husband. Henry based the flat on one she stayed in in Paris, and called this novel a wish fulfilment for her.
Ruth Kelly, a ghostwriter (The Prison Doctor, etc.) based in Kintbury, has written her first novel, The Villa, a thriller about a reality TV franchise. The main character is a journalist and the other two POVs are the producer and viewers collectively. She said the book starts with the body and moves backwards.
Jane Dunn is a biographer (of Daphne du Maurier, Antonia White et al.) who pivoted to writing Regency romances, having been inspired by a newfound love of Georgette Heyer. Her books, including An Unsuitable Heiress, feature women who are slightly on the periphery: a widow, illegitimate children, a male impersonator, and so on.
Victoria Gosling was a last-minute fill-in for an author who couldn’t make it. She moved back to Marlborough from Berlin, where she was living when she wrote her book set in Marlborough, Before the Ruins. She called it a slow-burn (Secret History-type) thriller about four people who spent the summer they were 17 squatting in a derelict manor house and have been dealing with the fallout ever since. I’ll get this one out from the library soon.
Lucy Barker’s debut novel, The Other Side of Mrs Wood, is about two warring mediums in 1873. Since I love most things set in the Victorian period, this was the one I’d already heard about and placed an order on through the library. It’s based on real-life mediums Agnes Guppy and Florence Cook and sounds like great fun! The summer reading choices are usually paperbacks, but an exception was made for this one still in hardback.
Which of these take your fancy?
There was also bookshop news and bookseller recommendations. The big announcement was the opening of a new branch in Wantage, taking over a closing-down shop.
Bookseller recommendations:
Hilary: Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens (I’d second that one; here’s my review)
Tessa: The Redemption of Isobel Farrar by Alan Robert Clark
Alison: Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson
Emma: Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter (I’ve long been interested in this one)
Alex: The Sanctuary by Andrew Hunter Murray (& Lessons by Ian McEwan in paperback)
Imogen: Little Wing by Freya North (my ears pricked up to hear it’s set on the Isle of Harris)
Bookish Beck = Rebecca Foster. American transplant to England. Freelance proofreader and book reviewer.
Bookish Beck 
An interesting introduction to (to me) unknown authors.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m pleased you think so!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great idea on the bookshop’s part, and thank goodness you just missed the rain! I like the idea of Regency romances that deal with characters on the periphery (rather relevant to my thesis…) And Lucy Barker’s novel is on my radar too—how can you beat “warring Victorian mediums”?!
LikeLiked by 1 person
(I don’t know why your comment went to the Trash folder! Sorry about that.) She was quick to add that this wasn’t Bridgerton. I’ve not read anything in that vein so couldn’t comment, but sounds like it would be fun. I love the cheeky UK cover for The Other Side of Mrs Wood; the U.S. one is very boring by comparison.
LikeLike
I haven’t either, really, but still like the idea! (I tend to hate US covers, in general…)
LikeLike
Oh, I almost always prefer the U.S. cover … but not in this case, or, notably, Lessons in Chemistry. (Anything where they make something quirky look like generic romance.)
LikeLike
That sounds a lovely evening – books, canapés and Pimm’s, 3 of my favourite things.
I’ve read a book by Jane Dunn but don’t think I’m tempted by her current genre!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ditto — I’m more likely to pick up her Antonia White biography.
LikeLike
What a lovely evening! I already had my eye on the Gosling and quite fancy the Wood, too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree those are very tempting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thirty Days in Paris sounds so fun! I like a good, light-hearted rom-com now and then. Jenny Colgan is a favorite author of mine for that. I’ll have to add Thirty Days in Paris to my TBR!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds like it would be perfect for you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such fun and the rain held off! Love it when bookshops host this kind of evening. I will have to have a trip to Wantage, once their new branch is open.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We’re curious to know what they’ll call the second branch!
LikeLike
What a fun event. It sounds like I’d get along with all of these books!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like the image of you making friends with them 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
[…] everything she would want her to know, good and bad, about the challenges to come. (Proof copy from Hungerford Bookshop Summer Reading Celebration) [Different subtitle on finished […]
LikeLike
What a lovely event – thank you for sharing it with us!
LikeLiked by 1 person