by Gudrun Bowers | 25, May 2017
Thursday 29th June at 7.30 pm.
We are thrilled to have bagged a visit from Louise Doughty as part of our celebrations for Independent Booksellers Week!
Louise is a novelist and playwright who is best known for her 2013 novel Apple Tree Yard which was a top ten bestseller and was shortlisted for the CWA Steel Dagger Award and the National Book Award Thriller of the Year. A four-part TV adaptation of Apple Tree Yard with Emily Watson in the lead role was recently broadcast on Sunday nights on BBC 1, and received rave reviews.
Louise’s eighth novel Black Water is just out in paperback from Faber, and is a tense, contemplative literary thriller which is attracting widespread critical acclaim and has already been nominated as one of the New York Times Book Review ‘Notable Books of 2016’. Spanning Europe during the Cold War, through California and the Civil Rights struggle, to Indonesia during the massacres of 1965 and the decades of military dictatorship that followed, Black Water is an epic novel that explores some of the darkest events of recent world history through the story of one troubled man.
“A compelling and vivid psychological drama, with plenty of bite.” The Guardian
Louise will be in conversation with her editor at Faber & Faber, Louisa Joyner.
Ticket price includes one of Louise’s novels in paperback, plus complimentary wine / soft drinks and nibbles.
The venue is the lovely Gluck Studio just off Church St in Steyning.
by Gudrun Bowers | 25, May 2017
by Gudrun Bowers | 26, Apr 2017
We are delighted to welcome novelist Juliet West to the bookshop for an intimate evening as part of our celebrations for Independent Bookseller’s Week 2017. Weds 28th June at 7.30pm.
Juliet will introduce her new novel ‘The Faithful’, a rich and gripping tale of deception and desire, set against the very well-researched historical background of Sussex in the 1930’s. Tensions mount in the seaside Sussex village of Aldwick as Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts arrive to set up camp, and local girl Hazel finds herself torn between friendship and desire. Secrets and betrayals take the story to London, the battlefields of the Spanish Civil War and beyond. It will be fascinating to hear Juliet share her passion for history – her best-selling first novel ‘Before The Fall’ was also inspired by a true story, set in the First World War.
Juliet lives near Chichester and both her novels are published by Pan Macmillan.
Tickets are £7 to include wine/soft drinks and a voucher towards Juliet’s new book ‘The Faithful’.
by Gudrun Bowers | 26, Apr 2017
You may love or hate the A272, a 99 mile stretch of road winding between Hadlow Down and Winchester, but we, like many locals, have long been baffled as to why a Dutch couple decided to write a book about it!
‘A272 An Ode to a Road’ has been an unlikely bestseller for Pieter and Rita Boogaart. Tonight is your chance to find out the romantic story behind their long-standing obsession with the road, as well as to hear fascinating insights about the buildings, landscape and landmarks you might encounter if you journeyed the whole stretch. Pieter and Rita will illustrate their talk with a Powerpoint presentation, and will take questions at the end.
Ticket price includes a voucher towards purchase of the book, and wine, soft drinks and nibbles will be provided.
The venue is the Gluck Studio, a lovely converted artist’s studio with beautiful gardens, just off Church St in Steyning.
by Gudrun Bowers | 28, Mar 2017
Need You Dead
We are delighted that best-selling thriller writer Peter James is once again coming to Steyning, celebrating the release of ‘Need You Dead’, the thirteenth novel in his hugely popular ‘Roy Grace’ series.
In ‘Need You Dead’ D.I Inspector Roy Grace faces his most mysterious case yet, when he is called to investigate the body of a woman found in a bath in Brighton. Unfortunately for Grace, what initially appears to be an easy, open-and-shut case soon becomes a labyrinth of sinister possibilities….
Peter is always an immensely entertaining speaker and we can’t wait to hear the grisly details and amusing anecdotes behind his latest work!
Ticket price of £15 INCLUDES a hardback copy of ‘Need You Dead’.
Tickets available direct from the shop or from TicketSource https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/date/355194
Drinks will be on sale from a licensed bar before and after the event.
Doors open at 7 pm, talk starts at 7.30 pm.
We will have the full range of Peter’s other books on sale, and Peter is always happy to sign books at the end of the event.
by Gudrun Bowers | 27, Mar 2017
Wednesday 3rd March 7.30pm.
We are very excited to announce that we have managed to bag novelist Scarlett Thomas for an intimate evening event at the bookshop! Scarlett will be in West Sussex promoting her brilliant new children’s book, ‘Dragon’s Green’ but we’ve persuaded her to stay for the evening to talk to her grown up fans.
Scarlett Thomas is the author of 9 novels, including ‘The Seed Collectors’, ‘Our Tragic Universe’, ‘The End of Mr Y’, ‘PopCo’, ‘Going Out’ and ‘Bright Young Things’, all of which are firm favourites here at the Steyning Bookshop! She has also published short stories, non-fiction and journalism, and is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Kent.
Scarlett’s novels are unique and genre-defying – she excels at creating smart, geeky, relatable characters who struggle with finding their place in the world, and her social observation is deft and spiked with sharp and sometimes filthy humour. What really characterises Scarlet’s novels though is the breadth and wondrous tangle of her narratives – she will weave in subjects as diverse as alternate dimensions, ethnobotany, code-breaking, literary theory, and knitting, all the while considering corporate control, the nature of consciousness, veganism, post-capitalism, faith, science, love and death….. So expect an illuminating evening from one of the UK’s most exciting writers!
We are very fortunate to have Scarlett appearing at our little shop, as she does not do many events, so please make sure you book early as places are limited.
Ticket price includes wine and nibbles. All Scarlett’s 6 novels currently in print will be on sale, as well as her new children’s book – this event is not for kids though.
Your ticket will give you £5 off the price of 1 book.
The Seed Collectors
The End of Mr Y
PopCo
Dragons Green
by Gudrun Bowers | 24, Mar 2017
On Thursday 4th May at 7 for 7.30pm we are thrilled to present a very special author supper with natural historian, writer, palaeontologist and TV presenter Richard Fortey.
Richard will be talking about his book ‘The Wood for the Trees’ which tells the story of the four acre beech and bluebell wood, nestled deep in the Chiltern Hills, which he purchased after retiring from his position as senior palaeontologist at the Natural History Museum. What began as an ‘escape into the open air’ after a lifetime locked away in dusty museums, became a deep analysis of the wood, its inhabitants, and its history, through diverse moods and changing seasons. Fortey’s remarkable scientific knowledge, intense curiosity and deep love of nature bring the habitat to life, from the flint substrate, the dormice, woodpeckers and deer, the mosses and liverworts, and the 300 species of fungi, to its role through human history.
Richard Fortey has published numerous popular science books, including ‘Fossils: The Key to the Past’, ‘The Hidden Landscape’, ‘Life: An Unauthorised Biography’, ‘A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years of Life on Earth’, ‘Trilobite!: Eyewitness to Evolution’, ‘The Earth: An Intimate History’, and ‘Survivors:The Animals and Plants that Time has Left Behind’.
He has also presented the BBC 4 series ‘Survivors: Nature’s Indestructible Creatures’ and ‘Fossil Wonderlands: Nature’s Hidden Treasures’, as well as individual BBC 4 programmes about fungi, islands and rock pools. And alongside all of this, he had a long career at the Natural History Museum as a palaeontologist, studying trilobites and graptolites.
Tickets at £28 include a delicious 2 course meal, a copy of ‘The Wood for the Trees’ in paperback, and of course, a fascinating talk, plus a chance to pose the palaeontological/ natural history question of your choice to one of the world’s most eminent natural historians!
The Wood for the Trees
Dry Store Room No 1
Survivors
by Gudrun Bowers | 24, Mar 2017
On Tuesday 11th April at 2.30 come and meet author and actress Susan Jameson for pony stories and horsey fun!
Susan is very well known as an actress, and has starred in many popular TV programmes, including the BBC crime drama ‘New Tricks’, ‘Midsommer Murders’, ‘Coronation Street’ and ‘When the Boat Comes In’. She is more familiar to younger viewers for her role as Great Aunt Loretta in the children’s BBC TV show ‘Grandpa In My Pocket’. She has also dabbled in screen writing, including writing three episodes for the famed children’s series The Hoobs.
Now Susan has written her first novel for children, ‘Pony Tails’, the story of 4 amazing ponies; A Connemara, a Shetland, a Welsh Cob, and an Exmoor, and the people whose lives they changed. The book is loosely based on ponies that Susan and her husband, the actor James Bolam, have rescued over the years. ‘Pony Tails’ is published by Forelock Books, a new publisher dedicated to publishing equestrian titles.
Susan will share her pony stories, and talk to children about animals, acting and writing.
Suitable for ages 8-11 years.
Free refreshments will be served, ticket price gives the bearer £3 off a Forelocks Books pony book.
Pony Tails
by Gudrun Bowers | 14, Mar 2017
We are dizzy with excitement at the prospect of having 2 legends of children’s literature in our shop at once!
At 12 midday on Saturday 8th April Julia Donaldson and Helen Oxenbury will be at the shop to sign copies of their beautiful new picture book collaboration, ‘The Giant Jumperee’ (published by Puffin, hardback £12.99).
Helen Oxenbury is the hugely talented illustrator of ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’, but she has a host of other wonderful books to her name, which we will also have on sale, as well as a big selection of Julia’s previous books.
There will be free refreshments and children’s activities for queuing customers in our back garden marquee.
This is a signing event, not a talk or show, so we won’t be selling tickets – just turn up! The shop will be open from 9.30 am for those who wish to beat the ‘buying’ queue, and all early-bird customers who wish to attend the signing later will be given a numbered ticket to help reduce queue time for the signing. Signing will begin at 12 sharp and continue until everyone’s books are signed – barring disaster or repetitive strain injury!
If you are not able to attend you can pre-order a copy of ‘The Giant Jumperee’ via our website shop or by phoning us on 01903 812062.
Helen Oxenbury
by Gudrun Bowers | 13, Mar 2017
We are very excited to welcome novelist, short-story writer and essayist Alison MacLeod to Steyning for the first time. She will speak at The Gluck Studio in Steyning at 7.30 pm on Thursday 30th March.
Alison is Professor of Contemporary Fiction at Chichester University and is a novelist, short story writer and essayist. Her novel The Unexploded was long-listed for the 2013 Man-Booker Prize and selected as one of The Observer’s ‘Books of the Year’. Her latest book is a wonderful short story collection, showing her at the height of her storytelling powers, taking us into history, literature and the hidden lives of iconic figures……In 1920s Nova Scotia, as winter begins to thaw, a woman emerges from mourning and wears a new fur coat to a dance that will change everything. A teenager searches for his lover on a charged summer evening in 2011, as around him London erupts in anger.
A cardiac specialist lingers on the edge of consciousness as he awaits a new heart – and is transported to an attic room half a century ago. In an ancient Yorkshire churchyard, the author visits Sylvia Plath’s grave and makes an unexpected connection across time. On a trip to Brighton, reluctant jihadists face the ultimate spiritual test, and at Charleston, Angelica Garnett, child of the Bloomsbury Group, is overcome by the past, all the beloved ghosts that spring to life before her eyes.
“These exquisitely crafted stories explore memory, the media and mortality, unfolding at the line between reality and fiction. Written with vigorous intelligence and delicate insight, this collection captures the surprising joys, small tragedies and profound truths of existence.” Bloomsbury Publishing
Alison will be interviewed by Zoe Gilbert, who is a perfect choice for this role. Zoe is the winner of the Costa Short Story Award 2014 and her work has appeared in numerous anthologies and journals. She is working on a PhD in Fiction and Creative Writing at the University of Chichester, focusing on the influence of folk tales on contemporary short stories and Bloomsbury will be publishing an anthology of her work in 2018. She chairs the Short Story Critique Group at Waterstones Piccadilly and co-hosts the Short Story Club at the Word Factory. She is also the co-founder of London Lit Lab, providing creative writing courses for Londoners.
Tickets, priced £10, include a glass of wine and a £5 voucher towards any purchase of ‘All the Beloved Ghosts’
Tickets available from the shop!
All the Beloved Ghosts
by Gudrun Bowers | 14, Feb 2017
2.30 pm on Tuesday 21st February.
A fun half-term workshop for budding writers aged 7-12 with brilliant children’s writer Helen Peters.
Helen is the author of 2 of our favourite children’s novels, the charming ‘Secret Henhouse Theatre’ and its exciting follow up ‘The Farm Beneath the Water’, as well as a new series of animal stories for younger readers, beginning with the very sweet story ‘A Piglet called Truffles’ and the soon-to-be-released ‘A Duckling called Button’, all published by Nosy Crow.
Helen will help children to create their own stories providing top tips on creating lovable characters and gripping storylines.
Free refreshments will be provided.
Ticket entitles bearer to money off one of Helen’s great books.
by Gudrun Bowers | 14, Feb 2017
On Wednesday 8th March at 7 for 7.30 pm, we are delighted to present an author supper with award-winning crime writer Mick Herron, and Steyning favourite Elly Griffiths.
Mick Herron is the author of the acclaimed Jackson Lamb series, the first of which, the Steel Dagger-nominated SLOW HORSES, appeared in the Daily Telegraph’s list of “the twenty greatest spy novels of all time”. The second in the series, DEAD LIONS, won the 2013 CWA Goldsboro Gold Dagger, and was picked by the Sunday Times as one of the best 25 crime novels of the past five years. The third novel in the series, REAL TIGERS, garnered rave reviews. Mick was described by the Telegraph as “shaping up to be the great spy novelist of our age”.
He’ll be introducing his newest novel in the series, ‘Spook Street’, an absorbing tale peppered with fascinatingly flawed characters and studded with dark humour. Jackson Lamb is certainly a louche and slightly repellent anti-hero, who specialises in politically incorrect one-liners!
Mick Herron was born in Newcastle but now resides in Oxford.
Elly Griffiths is no stranger to our Sussex Produce author suppers, and readers will be overjoyed to hear there is a new installment (the ninth!) in her series featuring lovable forensic archaeologist Dr Ruth Galloway. ‘The Chalk Pit’, set as always in and around Norwich, sees Ruth investigating some ancient boiled bones found in a mysterious network of underground chalk tunnels….do they have any link to the disappearance of a local rough-sleeper?
Elly Griffiths is the pen name of Domenica de Rosa, who has also written 4 Italian themed novels under her own name, and who lives in Brighton with her husband and kids.
Mick and Elly will be in conversation about their writing after we enjoy the delicious 2 course meal provided as part of the ticket price by our fantastic hosts, the Sussex Produce Café.
Ticket price also includes 1 hardback book (a choice of Spook Street or The Chalk Pit ) …how we spoil you!
by Gudrun Bowers | 12, Jan 2017
‘Bring a Bear’ book signing!
On Saturday 11th February at 11am, we will once again welcome Julia Donaldson to the bookshop to celebrate the launch of her charming new hardback picture book ‘The Everywhere Bear’. Feel free to bring your teddies and favourite soft toys along to meet Julia! We will have free Teddy-themed refreshments and activities for children.
‘The Everywhere Bear’ tells the warm and engaging story of a classroom bear who has an unexpected adventure when he falls unnoticed from a child’s backpack. It is beautifully brought to life with charming illustrations by ‘Paper Dolls’ illustrator Rebecca Cobb.
Julia will be at the shop from 11am, where we will have plenty of copies of ‘Everywhere Bear’ on sale, plus all her other titles. We will do our best to reduce queue time, and will have free Teddy-themed refreshments and activities on hand for children. Julia is generally happy to stay for as long as it takes to sign everyone’s books, but to reduce queuing time we’re afraid we must ask that you do not bring books purchased elsewhere to be signed.
If you can’t make the date, we can reserve copies to be signed, please call into the shop, phone 01903 812062, or email to reserve your copy. Only books paid for in advance can be signed with a named dedication.
We look forward to seeing you ( and your teddies!)
by Gudrun Bowers | 3, Nov 2016
We are delighted to welcome the prize-winning Irish writer Sebastian Barry to our author supper at The Sussex Produce Cafe on Tuesday 22nd November, at 7pm.
Sebastian will be in conversation about his stunning new novel ‘Days Without End’, an astonishing work of beauty and brutality set during the American Civil War, which the Guardian called “experimental, self-renewing, breathtakingly exciting”. Sebastian is also known for his 2008 novel ‘The Secret Scripture’, which won both the Costa and James Tait Black memorial prize, and has recently been adapted into a film. His novels ‘On Canaan’s Side’ and ‘The Temporary Gentleman’ were also critically acclaimed, and he has written more than 15 plays for the theatre, as well as publishing several volumes of poetry.
Sebastian is married to the actor and screen-writer Alison Deegan and has three children.
Tickets for the author supper include a delicious, seasonal 2 course meal, and a copy of ‘Days Without End’. Sebastian’s other novels will be on sale, and he will be happy to sign books.
by Gudrun Bowers | 10, Oct 2016
Fiona Maddocks
On Thursday 13th October at 7.30 pm we welcome the Observer Classical Music Critic, Fiona Maddock, to the lovely Gluck Studios in Elm Grove Lane.
Fiona will be in conversation with former opera singer Sue Churchill, about her new book ‘Music for Life, 100 Works to Carry You Through’.
In the book, Fiona asks ‘ How does music reflect the key moments in our lives? How do we choose the works that inspire, delight, comfort or console?’ and selects 100 classical works from across nine centuries, arguing passionately, persuasively and at times obstinately for their inclusion, putting each work in its cultural and musical context, discussing omissions, suggesting alternatives and always putting the music first.
A fantastic event for classical music fans, the ticket price includes a glass of wine and a lovely hardback copy of ‘Music for Life’.
by Gudrun Bowers | 31, Aug 2016
There has been so much going on that we haven’t updated our news for a year!
Early 2016 saw author events with Catherine Chanter, Emily Gravett and Janet Ellis then in May and June the hustle and bustle of the 2016 Steyning Festival with the likes of Peter James, Frank Gardner, Cressida Cowell, the Hemsley sisters, Alison Weir, Sara Pascoe and Fergus Garrett coming to town! Then we celebrated Independent Booksellers Week in fine style with a talk by Ian Rankin, and a wonderful window display created by children’s illustrator Leigh Hodgkinson.
June also saw the 2nd Steyning Grammar School Brilliant Book Awards, where authors Eve Ainsworth, Sam Hepburn, Ali Sparkes and Matt Whyman were in attendance.
In August the lovely children’s author and illustrator Sam Lloyd came and entertained little ones with stories and buggy crafts, and some of us grabbed the odd weekend away, while others continued their tireless work of event planning and book supply….
Sam Lloyd in the bookshop garden
We had queues up the street for Julia Donaldson’s pre-publication signing for ‘Zog and the Flying Doctors’, thanks to everyone who came for their patience – luckily the sun shone and Malcolm Donaldson entertained the throngs singing all our favourite jolly Julia songs.
Queues for Julia D!
Julia Donaldson meets young fans
by Gudrun Bowers | 31, Aug 2016
Saturday 17th September 2.30 pm at the Steyning Bookshop.
An amazing chance to meet Chris Riddell, the current children’s laureate, author and illustrator extraordinaire, as we celebrate the release of his new collaboration with Neil Gaiman, ‘Odd and the Frost Giants’.
Chris will entertain children aged 7 + with his incredible live drawing skills, play some interactive arty games, and answer questions from the audience.
He will also judge the entries to our DRAWING COMPETITION!
Drawing Competition
Can you imagine what a FROST GIANT might look like? Bring your drawing along to the bookshop on or before 17th September for your chance to win a bundle of signed Chris Riddell books.
ALL ENTRIES WILL RECEIVE A FREE ICECREAM / LOLLY!
Odd and the Frost Giants
by Gudrun Bowers | 5, Aug 2016
A thoughtful, charming and moving children’s novel about friendship, grief, reincarnation and life as a dog.
When 12 year old Daisy is involved in a fatal car crash, she wakes up in a heavenly waiting-room, where she is allocated a new life, and finds herself back on earth…in the body of a dog. After escaping her owners she sets off on a mission to find her real family, pairing up with a friendly human runaway, Pip, who is searching for his father. Daisy’s gradual adjustment to her new canine senses, her fading memories of her old human life and her devotion to Pip are portrayed with gentle humour and sensitivity, and there is plenty of excitement along the way, as she and Pip evade capture and overcome disappointment on their quest.
Perfect for 8-12 year old readers.
by Gudrun Bowers | 5, Aug 2016
We’re very excited about this one… Britain’s best-selling picture book author and local resident, the wonderful Julia Donaldson has chosen to collaborate with one of our favourite illustrators, Sara Ogilvie, to create a fantastic, fast-paced romp, The Detective Dog.
‘There once was a dog with a keen sense of smell. She was known far and wide as Detective Dog Nell.’
Nell can sniff out the solution to any mystery with her amazing nose, she solves any crime and also looks after her messy boy owner Peter, retrieving his belongings from the most unlikely places. That’s what she does Tuesday to Sunday, but on Mondays Nell has another very important job – she follows the smell of books and goes to school with Peter and listens to the children read.
When all the school’s books disappear, who better to sniff them out than Detective Dog Nell?
This an absolutely lovely story in praise of books and libraries and children and dogs, illuminated by Ogilvy’s fabulously expressive drawings.
by Gudrun Bowers | 5, Aug 2016
Winner of the 2015 Desmond Elliott Prize for Fiction this is a striking and absorbing first novel inspired by the true life story of Robin van Helsum, a Dutch boy who walked out of a German forest in 2011 claiming to have survived there with his father
The novel opens with the young narrator Peggy, aged 17, finding herself back in London trying to resume a normal life with her mother and the younger brother she never knew she had, after living for nine years in remote German mountains with her increasingly unhinged survivalist father who abducted her when her mother, a distant and self-absorbed concert pianist, was away on tour.
Told in flashback the novel transports us from Peggy’s seemingly idyllic and comfortable childhood to the often gruesome realities of surviving in the wild, creating in the wilderness an atmosphere that is claustrophobic but also strangely liberating. The carefully crafted unsettling novel builds a tension that would be unbearable were it not for the fact that we know that the vulnerable child survives, albeit having lost her childhood.
A most impressive debut that lingers in the mind for some time.
The bookshop book group’s pick for August.
by Gudrun Bowers | 5, Aug 2016
From the author of In Darkling Wood and The Girl Who Walked on Air comes an enjoyably creepy story inspired by the summer when Mary Shelley created Frankenstein. There is a growing body of young readers who are great fans of this writer, a former secondary school teacher who creates deftly plotted involving stories with believable characters and enough complexity to challenge without baffling.
Suitable for ages 9-12
by Gudrun Bowers | 5, Aug 2016
Another book to contain a squirrel recipe, surely a first for the Bookshop reviews! This is renowned food writer Elisabeth Luard’s collection of stories of food from around the world. From bush-tucker in Australia, to snails in Crete, squirrel pot-pie from the grey squirrel’s native habitat of the forests of North America, to Ethiopian injeera, Elisabeth’s travels and encounters with food provide a collection of fascinating anecdotes, recipes and drawings. Charming and entertaining.
by Gudrun Bowers | 5, Aug 2016
Following the purchase of a run-down Herefordshire farm, and encouraged by dreams of roast duck with wild mushroom sauce, as well as a combination of being utterly broke, with natural bounty around him, farmer John Lewis-Stempel, whose previous book Meadowland was a runaway success, decides to eat only wild food for a year. It must be hunted or foraged by himself from his own forty acres, and may not include food produced by agriculture. His wife bans him from using the freezer, so he also has to rely on traditional preservation techniques. This book is the story of his year, his (often monotonous) meals, and the methods he uses to procure them. A lot of rabbit, also squirrel, snails, pigeon and trout are consumed (but mainly rabbit), as well as what many people this of as weeds – chickweed, silverweed and dandelions. The long hours spent hunting for food, and even longer ones preparing it, ultimately hone his perceptions, his tastebuds, and draw him closer to the land and to himself. Fascinating.
Alice
by Gudrun Bowers | 5, Aug 2016
This is the story of four ambitious, talented friends who meet at college, and then move to New York to make their way in the world. Malcolm is a diffident aspiring architect, JB paints acclaimed pictures of his friend, Willem waits tables and auditions for parts and brilliant, enigmatic Jude is working at the district attorney’s office. As their careers and relationships develop, Jude becomes the centre of the narrative, his past slowly and devastatingly revealed, the dark centre of the circle of friendship. This is outstanding book built in layers of quiet, subtle and heart-breaking detail.
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