Launch event for 'Swell' by Maria Ferguson in conversation with Helen Mort
2025-02-06 18:30 - 21:00 (Europe/London) | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
We are delighted that local author Maria Ferguson will be in the shop to chat to readers and celebrate the launch of her latest poetry collection ‘Swell’. Maria will be in conversation with the award winning British poet and novelist, Helen Mort.

In the consultation room I staredat the purple flowers in their purplevase and imagined my insides:an ocean, a cave, a storm.

Maria Ferguson’s second poetry collection is a raw and powerful documentation of one woman’s experience of becoming a mother. Against a backdrop of the sounds and sensations of daily life, she longs for her own mother’s embrace, observes as her body changes and charts a course through loss and wilting house plants towards recovery, empowerment and renewal.

Tender, direct and winningly witty, Swell distils the poet’s complex feelings surrounding family and domesticity, exploring the contending weight and levity felt as she contemplates a thrillingly unfamiliar new chapter. Ferguson is a poet as alert to the absurd as to the shattering, and these are large-hearted poems, full of life and thought. Together, they invite the reader to join them in a search for self-acceptance, for freedom from shame and for a path to stability in increasingly uncertain times.

Maria Ferguson is a writer and performer. Her poetry has been widely published and anthologized, and her debut collection, Alright, Girl? (Burning Eye, 2020), was highly commended in the Forward Prize. On the stage, her one-woman show Fat Girls Don’t Dance (Oberon, 2017) won the Saboteur Award for Best Spoken Word Show; Essex Girl (Oberon, 2019) was shortlisted for the Tony Craze Award and won Show of the Week at the VAULT Festival. She has been commissioned by the Royal Academy of Art, Stylist magazine and BBC Radio. She currently lives in Leeds.

‘A beautiful, powerful, profound collection of poems There is an honesty that is both heart-breaking and more hopeful than anything else I’ve read on this subject. She makes me weep and wonder in equal measure’ Hollie McNish‘Tender, lyrical, a family mise-en-scene, exploring the tiny narratives that write us. These poems are an umbilical, a feeding. Beautiful’ Joelle Taylor, author of C+nto‘Maria Ferguson articulates the previously unsayable in these radical, tender poems. Swell gives voice to the full complexity of motherhood – the love next to the guilt, the ambivalence next to joy, even the desire to sometimes run away’ Kim Moore, author of All The Men I Never Married‘These poems have an energy which is infectious. Reading them will make you feel free and fearless – Ferguson shows us how language can give new meaning to our tenderest moments’ Helen Mort

Helen Mort is an award-winning author based in Sheffield. Helen has published three poetry collections (Division Street, 2013 and No Map Could Show Them, 2016) and The Illustrated Woman (2022, shortlisted for the Forward Prize). She has also written a novel (Black Car Burning, 2019), a short story collection (Exire, 2019) she has also written drama and creative non fiction.

Helen’s first full length non-fiction book A Line Above The Sky (Ebury, 2022) was featured in the Guardian and Evening Standard’s ‘books to watch’ lists. She was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize and Costa Prize and won the Fenton Aldeburgh Prize in 2015. Helen appears regularly on BBC radio and sometimes on TV. She has taught creative writing for over ten years and is a Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University. Helen offers freelance mentoring and runs workshops. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Helen collaborates with artists and musicians and is interested in interdisciplinary work of all kinds.

*** SOLD OUT *** An evening of Practical Positivity with Sophie Cliff, The Joyful Coach
2025-01-30 18:30 - 20:30 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
We are delighted to be able to bring you an event to fill your 2025 with positivity. Join us for an evening in the shop with local author and podcaster, The Joyful Coach – Sophie Cliff, as she share her latest publication The Hustle Cure with us.

The Hustle Cure is an empowering guide that offers a new approach to productivity that prioritizes making time for what you actually enjoy. With values-driven activities and mindful self-care tips, learn to embrace flexibility, find flow in your work, and take small, joyful steps toward meaningful achievements. Shift your mindset, reclaim your purpose, and lead the life you desire.

Sophie Cliff (aka The Joyful Coach) is a certified coach and positive psychology practitioner who uses her expertise to help individuals and organisations flourish by finding more joy and prioritising wellbeing. Early in her career, Cliff scaled the corporate ranks at companies like the Walt Disney Company and venture-backed start-ups. But while on paper her life seemed perfect, she couldn’t fight the feeling that something was missing. When a family tragedy shook her life, Cliff decided to stop delaying decisions and following the wrong path. In 2018, she started The Joyful Coach, a business helping individuals and companies find purpose and joy. Now through her coaching, workshops, and chart-topping podcast, Practical Positivity, Cliff helps people all over the world lead more joyful lives and has way more fun than she ever had in her previous career. Follow Sophie on Instagram @sophiecliff for your daily dose of joy, or visit www.sophiecliff.com.

An afternoon with Scottish crime writer Sir Ian Rankin
2024-11-22 12:30 - 15:00 | Old Woollen, Sunnybank Mills, 83-85 Town Street, Farsley, LS28 5UJ, United Kingdom
As part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival we are proud to announce, an afternoon at the Old Woollen with award winning author Sir Ian Rankin as he introduces us to the brand new John Rebus thriller ‘Midnight and Blue’, which will be released in October.

They say there is nowhere more dangerous for a cop than prison. John Rebus is about to find out just how true that is.

John Rebus’s appeal is stalled and his lawyers have stopped calling, as he hopes for the best but fears the worst. As the days bleed into each other, and the nights stretch before him, even the legendary detective struggles to keep his head. That is, until a murder in a locked cell presents a new mystery. They say old habits die hard. Everyone else is about to find out just how true that is too. On the outside, Siobhan Clarke investigates the disappearance of a girl who never came from school. Jasmine Andrews’ friends swear they haven’t seen her, and she hasn’t contacted them. But something about this case doesn’t add up. Is Jasmine, missing or on the run? Is she in danger, or is this something stranger?

Back inside, as new friends and old enemies begin to circle, Rebus finds himself at the centre of a case where the prisoners and the guards could all be suspects. But how do you find a killer in a place full of them?

Midnight and Blue is a masterfully executed twin-engine crime novel that combines Rankin’s gold standard Edinburgh-based police procedurals and a tough, tightly wound locked cell mystery. Rankin’s work is known for its integrity and ambition, as well as the topical socio-political commentary, and Midnight and Blue continues the series with a sense of a generational changing of the guards, the march of technology and its potential to be saviour and predator, the pressure on public institutions through budget cuts and a decaying sense of civic duty. It’s a story about groups and institutions – boys’ clubs and girl groups, schools and prisons, gangs and territory, power and control.

Sir Ian Rankin is the multimillion-copy worldwide bestseller of over thirty novels and creator of John Rebus. His books have been translated into thirty-six languages and have been adapted for radio, the stage and the screen. In 2024, a new Rebus six-part TV series was broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Sir Ian Rankin is the recipient of four Crime Writers’ Association Dagger Awards, including the Diamond Dagger, the UK’s most prestigious award for crime fiction. In the United States, he has won the celebrated Edgar Award and been shortlisted for the Anthony Award. In Europe, he has won Denmark’s Palle Rosenkrantz Prize, the French Grand Prix du Roman Noir and the German Deutscher Krimipreis. In 2022, he received a knighthood for his services to Literature and Charities.

This event is part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival – Doors open midday

Destination Thriller! Tom Hindle and Rachel North in conversation with JM Hall
2024-11-14 18:30 - 20:30 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
As part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival, join us in the shop as cosy crime writer Jonathan Hall chairs an evening of discussion with Tom Hindle and Rachel North. The panel will explore the lure of a glamorous location for thriller writers.

Tom Hindle released his third, locked room mystery, ‘Murder on LAKE GARDA’ in July. One happy couple. Two divided families. A wedding party to die for. On the private island of Castello Fiore – surrounded by the glittering waters of Lake Garda – the illustrious Heywood family gathers for their son Laurence’s wedding to Italian influencer Eva Bianchi. But as the ceremony begins, a blood-curdling scream brings the proceedings to a devastating halt. With the wedding guests trapped as they await the police, buried secrets are unearthed, and family rivalries threaten to bubble over.

In June Rachel North released her first compulsive thriller ‘Happily Never After.’ The Finca Incantata is a magical place-a castle with a cobbled courtyard, a deep, cold, fresh-water pool and a high tower that looks out over the surrounding wilderness. The guests arrive bringing with them their pretty dresses, their smart suits and their private thoughts about the upcoming marriage. Among them is one guest who is determined to ensure the wedding does not take place…

We are delighted that friend of the shop, Yorkshire crime writer, Jonathan Hall will be chairing the panel. Jonathon’s debut novel, A Spoonful of Murder is about retired primary school teachers who turn to sleuthing and has sold over 59,000 copies. In his second book, A Pen Dipped in Poison the ladies were back at their usual table at the Thirsk Garden Centre café with a brand-new mystery to solve. In April Jonathan celebrated the publication of his latest release A Clock Stopped Dead.

This event is part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival. Doors open 6:30pm event starts 6:45pm

Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs, with award winning music journalist Miranda Sawyer in conversation with freelance writer Daniel Dylan Wray
2024-11-13 20:00 - 22:00 | Old Woollen, Sunnybank Mills, 83-85 Town Street, Farsley, LS28 5UJ, United Kingdom
As part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival we are taking you back to the 90s for an evening at the Old Woollen with the definitive Britpop mixtape from award-winning pop-writer Miranda Sawyer. Sharing the vivid stories behind 20 key songs of the 90s – ‘Common People’ to ‘Girls and Boys’, ‘Connection’ to ‘Firestarter’; AND the bands that made them. Miranda will be interviewed by Daniel Dylan Wray, a freelance writer for The Guardian since 2017, covering music, film, TV, documentary, podcast as well as general interest stories.

When Miranda Sawyer interviewed Noel Gallagher in 1995, his gag wishing Damon Albarn would die of AIDS became front-page news. This fascinating pop history, exploring the mid-90s moment when British music suddenly meant everything, explains why. Picking out twenty key songs, delving into the surprising stories behind them and their unlikely creators, Uncommon People takes us back to when Jarvis Cocker became a national hero, Trainspotting was a global hit, fire-starting seemed like a good night out – and it felt as though the revolution was happening.

Initially a music press nickname, Britpop became an unexpected musical movement centred around outsiders and misfits, drop-outs and weirdos who refused to compromise on their ideas, even when they were thrust into the international spotlight. Not just a scene for white guys with guitars, but something wilder and more interesting, with songs that have proved timeless. Exploring the era’s key artists – Oasis, Blur, Tricky, Pulp, Underworld, Manic Street Preachers, The Prodigy, Suede, Chemical Brothers, Garbage, Supergrass, Radiohead, PJ Harvey and more – through their definitive anthems, Miranda Sawyer transports us back to the beating heart of the nineties.

UNCOMMON PEOPLE re-lives the mad exhilaration of what it was like to hear these songs for the very first time – and what it was like to make them. With amazing new interviews, and I-was-there insight, this book offers a backstage pass to all the most interesting bits of Britpop’s Greatest Hits. Forget New Labour, forget earnest trend theories, this book is all about the music, the people and being right there, right now.

‘That tired old phrase ‘if you remember the 90s you probably weren’t there’ does have a ring of truth. Luckily, Miranda Sawyer was both there and has a far better memory than me. Even more fortunately, she writes about those days with great verve, style and acuity. Absolutely indispensable.’ IRVINE WELSH

Miranda Sawyer has written about pop culture for the Observer ever since they hired her to explain why Kurt Cobain’s death was such a big deal in 1993. She has since interviewed everyone from Liam Gallagher to Irvine Welsh. She has also written for the Face, Select, and Smash Hits and won several awards.The Culture Show’s Music Correspondent since 2007 and a regular on Radio 4, she has made documentaries about the Spice Girls and even co-presented Big Mouth with Tony Parsons in 1996. Her first book Park and Ride explored the British suburbs, her second Out of Time exploded the midlife crisis,Uncommon People takes us time-travelling back into the heart of 90s pop.

This event is part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival. Doors open 7:00pm event starts 8:00pm

Guy Shrubsole in conversation with Boff Whalley. The Lie of the Land: Who Really Cares for the Countryside?
2024-11-11 20:00 - 22:00 | Old Woollen, Sunnybank Mills, 83-85 Town Street, Farsley, LS28 5UJ, United Kingdom
As part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival we bring you an evening at the Old Woollen with Sunday Times Best Selling Author, Guy Shrubsole in conversation with Boff Whalley. They will be discussing Guy’s new book The Lie of the Land: Who Really Cares for the Countryside?

For centuries we’ve been sold a lie: that you need to own the land to care for it. Just 1% of the population own half of England, and this tiny landowning elite like to present themselves as the rightful custodians of the countryside. They’re even paid billions of pounds of public money to be good stewards. But what happens when they just don’t care?

A small number of landowners have laid waste to some of our most treasured landscapes, leaving our forests bare, our rivers polluted, our moorlands burned, and our fenlands drained. Here Guy Shrubsole journeys all over Britain to expose the damage done to our land, and meet the communities fighting back: the river guardians, small farmers and trespassing activists restoring our lost wildlife. Full of rage and hope, this is a bold vision for our nation’s wild places, and how we can treat them with the awe and attention they deserve.

It’s time to demand better for nature. We can start by replacing the lie of the land with a profound truth: that any of us can care for the countryside, regardless of whether you own it.

This is set to be a night of great discussion and their will be chance for the audience to ask Guy their own questions on this subject.

Guy Shrubsole is an environmental campaigner and writer. He is the author of Who Owns England?, an instant Sunday Times bestseller, and The Lost Rainforests of Britain, which won the Wainwright Prize for writing on Conservation and was shortlisted for the Richard Jefferies Society Literary Prize. For the past decade and a half Guy has campaigned on the climate and nature crises, working for a wide range of organisations from Friends of the Earth and the Right to Roam campaign, to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Guy lives in Devon.

This event is part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival. Doors open 7:00pm event starts 8:00pm

Beware it's Crime Day - Crime Scene Do Not Cross!
2024-11-10 15:00 - 22:00 | Old Wollen, Sunny Bank Mills 83-85 Town Street Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5UJ, United Kingdom
As part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival we are exited to bring you three author events in one sitting, are you ready for Crime Day at The Old Woollen?

3pm – We will be talking Cosy Crime – with Josie Lloyd, JM Hall and Antony Johnston

5pm – Creating Kick-Ass Female Protagonists – with Saima Mir and Lesley McEvoy

7pm – Take your seats as we are in conversation with Elly Griffiths

There are a number of ticket options with discounts if attending multiple author events on the day – please see below

Josie Lloyd, also writing as Joanna Rees, is the Sunday Times No. 1 bestselling international author of over twenty novels and has been translated into 27 languages. Come Together, which she co-authored with her husband Emlyn Rees, was number one for 10 weeks and made into a Working Title film. Josie Lloyd recently wrote contemporary women’s fiction novels The Cancer Ladies Running Club and Lifesaving for Beginners, which was a #1 Bookseller Heatseeker. Miss Beeton’s Murder Agency is her first crime novel.

J.M. Hall is an author, playwright and now retired deputy head of a primary school. His plays have been produced in theatres across the UK as well as for radio, the most recent being Trust, starring Julie Hesmondhalgh on BBC Radio 4. Jonathon’s debut novel, A Spoonful of Murder is about retired primary school teachers who turn to sleuthing. In his second book, A Pen Dipped in Poison the ladies are back at their usual table at the Thirsk Garden Centre café with a brand-new mystery to solve. Jonathan’s latest release A Clock Stopped Dead, good friend of the teachers, Marguerite claims to have uncovered a mysterious charity shop that has since vanished, they simply can’t resist investigating.

Antony Johnston is one of the most versatile writers of the modern era, with a body of work spanning books, film, graphic novels, videogames, and non-fiction. An award-winning author and New York Times bestseller, his creations include Atomic Blonde, The Dog Sitter Detective, the Brigitte Sharp thrillers, and many more.

Saima Mir has written for The Times, the Guardian and the Independent. Her debut novel, The Khan, was a Times Bestseller, a Guardian best crime and thriller and a Waterstones Thriller of the Month. Her essay for It’s Not About The Burqa (Picador) appeared in Guardian Weekend and received over 250,000 hits online in two days. She contributed to the anthology The Best, Most Awful Job: Twenty Writers Talk Honestly About Motherhood. Saima grew up in Bradford, where she worked as a rookie crime reporter and now lives in London. Vengeance is her second novel.

Lesley McEvoy was born and bred in Yorkshire and has had a passion for writing in one form or another all her life. The writing took a backseat as Lesley developed her career as a Behavioural Analyst / Profiler and Psychotherapist – setting up her own Consultancy business and therapy practice. She has written and presented extensively around the world for over 25 years specialising in behavioural profiling and training, with a wide variety of organisations. The corporate world provided unexpected sources of writing material when, as Lesley said – she found more psychopaths in business than in prison! Lesley’s work in some of the UK’s toughest prisons was where she met people whose lives had been characterised by drugs and violence and whose experiences informed the themes she now writes about. Lesley published her successful debut novel The Murder Mile in 2019 and has not stopped since.

Acclaimed crime author Elly Griffiths worked in publishing before becoming a full-time writer. She is best known for her award-winning Dr Ruth Galloway series and The Brighton Mystery series. Elly has won the CWA Dagger in the Library, has been shortlisted six times for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger for The Lantern Men.

This event is part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival

Acts of Creation with Hettie Judah
2024-11-07 18:30 - 20:30 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
As part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival we are delighted to announce, an evening at the Sunny Bank Mills Gallery with writer and art critic Hettie Judah, as she talks about ‘Acts of Creation.’ Exploring motherhood through the work of artists from prehistory to the present day, Acts of Creation addresses the abiding mother-shaped hole in art history.

Long taboo, lived experiences of motherhood – and all that accompanies it – are now the subject of urgent discussion. Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood delves into the joys and heartaches, mess, myths and mishaps of motherhood through over 150 artworks, from ancient goddess artifacts to contemporary interpretations of pregnancy in the present.

While the Madonna and Child archetype has dominated Western art, we rarely encounter art about real motherhood, in all its raw, unfiltered complexity. Renowned author and curator Hettie Judah examines how shifting ideals of motherhood have been constructed and promoted through visual culture.Moving into the 20th and 21st centuries, it also looks at how women artists – among them Barbara Hepworth, Jenny Saville, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Betye Saar, Suzanne Valadon, Louise Bourgeois, Carrie Mae Weems – have worked to subvert these ideals and reclaim the narrative. Women have long been told that they cannot be both an artist and a mother: here the artist mother is instead addressed as an important cultural paradigm. Acts of Creation explores lived experience of motherhood – and of not becoming a mother – offering a complex account that engages with ongoing concerns around gender, caregiving and reproductive rights.

Published to coincide with the acclaimed Hayward Gallery touring exhibition of the same name, Acts of Creation is an engaging, thought-provoking and richly illustrated must-read on the evolving discourse on motherhood, offering a fresh perspective that challenges conventions and inspires change.

Hettie Judah is a writer and art critic, contributing regularly to the Guardian, Apollo, Frieze and the Times Literary Supplement among many other publications. She has lectured widely on art and motherhood, and in 2022 co-founded the Art Working Parents Alliance. Recent books include Lapidarium:The Secret Lives of Stones (2022) and How Not To Exclude Artist Mothers (and other parents) (2022).

This event is part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival

Bedsit Land - The Strange Worlds of Soft Cell by music journalist, DJ & author Patrick Clarke in conversation with journalist, broadcaster and musician John Robb
2024-11-06 20:00 - 22:00 | Old Woollen, Sunnybank Mills, 83-85 Town Street, Farsley, LS28 5UJ, United Kingdom
As part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival we are excited to announce, an evening at the Old Woollen with music journalist, DJ & author Patrick Clarke about his latest release Bedsit Land – The Strange Worlds of Soft Cell. Patrick will be joined in conversation with journalist, broadcaster and musician John Robb.

Soft Cell are more than just a pop band. Marc Almond and Dave Ball may be best known for the string of hits they released in 1981, but the powerful first phase of their collaboration embraced a staggering array of sounds, influences and innovations that would change the face of music to come.

In Bedsit land, Patrick Clarke plunges into the archives and interviews more than sixty contributors, including the band members themselves, to follow Soft Cell through the many strange and sprawling worlds that shaped their extraordinary career. They lead him from the faded camp glamour of the British seaside to the dizzying thrills of the New York club scene. From transgressive student performance art to the sleaze and squalor of pre-gentrified Soho. From the glitz of British showbiz to the drug-addled chaos of post-Franco Spain. He emerges on the other side with the most in-depth, innovative and entertaining account of the duo ever written.

Patrick Clarke is a music journalist and live DJ. He is the deputy editor of the Quietus and a freelance contributor to the Guardian, NME, DIY Magazine and many more. He has also written for a number of specialist titles, including No Depression, N By Norwegian and MARVIN.

Patrick will be joined in conversation by the well-known media figure who has been active in music for decades John Robb. John is a journalist, broadcaster and musician. He is the author of Punk Rock: An Oral History (2006) and The Art of Darkness: The History of Goth, the first major book on Goth culture. He is the founder of culture website louderthanwar.com and plays bass in the post-punk band The Membranes.

This event is part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival – Doors open 7pm

Destination Fabulous - Find your way to your best you yet with Anna Murphy
2024-11-03 14:00 - 15:30 | Old Woollen, Sunnybank Mills, 83-85 Town Street, Farsley, LS28 5UJ, United Kingdom
As part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival we are bringing you another fabulous event, join us in the Old Woollen as we chat to Anna Murphy, Fashion Director of The Times. Anna will be introducing Destination Fabulous – her inspirational and invigorating guide to embracing your age and celebrating the wisdom and inner beauty that comes with it.

From the Fashion Director of The Times comes a wise and inspiring guide to making the most of life as a grown-up woman – from the practical (how to dress your best) to the existential (how to feel your best).

At 52, Anna Murphy feels more visible than at any point in her life to date. In Destination Fabulous, she offers a toolkit to help you embrace your age and celebrate the wisdom and inner beauty that comes with it. It’s not about impossible goals. It’s not about running a marathon (unless you want it to be). It’s not about denying the ageing process, nor attempting to erase its signs. It’s not about letting everything go, either. It’s about balance. It’s about the possible and the present. And it’s about the future you want. How do you lift and smooth your face naturally? Should you go grey, and, if so, how? How do you deal with menopause? Anna combines her knowledge from years of writing about fashion and beauty with her openness to the alternative ways of thinking found in disciplines such as yoga and Chinese medicine. For her natural is always best.

As for fashion, Anna knows better than anyone that this can be the ultimate route into surfacing the true you. She shares all her tricks for finding your way to a wardrobe that will transform not just the way you look but the way you feel. And she shares the highlights of her conversations over the years with super-stylish agers such as Iris Apfel and Miuccia Prada. How have they got it right? Drawing on the wisdom of writers as diverse as Pema Chödrön and Eckhart Tolle, Dorothy Rowe and Osho, Nora Ephron and Mary Oliver, she writes about saying goodbye to what doesn’t serve you and welcoming what does; about forging relationships that work for you as well as others; and about finding your purpose, whether in your personal or professional life. Discover how the bumps on her road have helped her find her way to her true path. Her hope is that this book will help you to find yours, too.

This event is part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival. Doors open 1pm event starts 2pm

An afternoon with award winning historical novelist Kate Mosse
2024-11-02 13:00 - 15:00 | Old Woollen, Sunnybank Mills, 83-85 Town Street, Farsley, LS28 5UJ, United Kingdom
As part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival we are delighted to announce, An afternoon with Kate Mosse at the Old Woollen. Kate Mosse CBE FRSL is an award-winning novelist, playwright, performer, campaigner, interviewer and non-fiction writer. The author of ten novels and short-story collections, her books have sold over five million copies, been translated into thirty-eight languages and published in more than forty countries. Kate will be talking to us about her latest novel The Map of Bones, which will be released on 10th October.

A story of adventure and hardship, dispossession and injustice, The Map of Bones is the sequel to the No. 1 bestselling The Ghost Ship, and the fourth – and concluding – novel of The Joubert Family Chronicles.

Olifantshoek, South Africa, 1688. When the vicious Cape wind blows from the south-east, they say the voices of the unquiet dead can be heard whispering through this deserted valley. Suzanne Joubert is here to walk in the footsteps of her cousin, Louise Reydon-Joubert, pirate and commander of the Ghost Ship, who disappeared more than sixty years ago. Suzanne has come to find her — to lay the stories to rest. But all is not as it seems . . .

Franschhoek, South Africa, 1862. One hundred and eighty years later, another member of the Joubert family, Isabeau, has journeyed to the small frontier town once known as Oliftantshoek in search of the long-lost women of her family. But the tragedies and crimes of the past are far from over, and Isabeau must race against time to not only discover the truth but escape with her life . . .

Kate’s fiction writing includes the multimillion-selling Languedoc Trilogy (Labyrinth, Sepulchre, Citadel), The Joubert Family Chronicles (The Burning Chambers, The City of Tears, The Ghost Ship, The Map of Bones) and No 1 bestselling Gothic fiction including The Taxidermist’s Daughter and The Winter Ghosts.

Her highly-acclaimed non-fiction includes An Extra Pair of Hands: A Story of Caring & Everyday Acts of Love and Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries: How Women (Also) Built the World, which inspired her one-woman theatre touring show.

A regular guest on radio and television for literature, Kate hosts the pre-show interview series at Chichester Festival Theatre and is a regular interviewer for literary and arts festivals including Letters Live, the Hay Festival, the Edinburgh International Book Festival, the British Library and the Royal National Theatre. Her new podcast, The Matilda Effect, will be launched in summer 2024.

The Founder Director of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction – the world’s largest annual literary awards celebrating writing by woman – she is the founder of the global #WomanInHistory campaign and has her own monthly YouTube book show, Mosse on a Monday. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Kate is also an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Authors, a Visiting Professor of Contemporary Fiction and Creative Writing at the University of Chichester and President of the Festival of Chichester. In the broader arts, Kate is President of the Festival of Chichester, Patron of the Chichester Cathedral Festival of Flowers 2024, Vice-Patron of the Chichester Cathedral Platinum Music Trust and Patron of the Chichester Festival of Music, Dance and Speech. She is also an Ambassador for Parkinsons UK and has recently been appointed to Board of the British Library.

This event is part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival

Writing for Wellness with Charlotte Russell
2024-10-28 18:30 - 20:30 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
As part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival we are excited to bring you this new event, join us in the shop for an evening of Writing for Wellness. Join Charlotte Russell (MA CW) for a character driven, story-based journalling session to boost self-worth and leave you feeling empowered. Suitable for complete beginners or those who write often, this creative writing event will not only demonstrate the benefits of journalling but will leave you feeling empowered, restored and confident.

This event is part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival. Doors open 6:30pm event starts 6:45pm

Brand Brilliance for Female Entrepreneurs - with Abigail and Chloe Baldwin
2024-10-22 18:30 - 20:30 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
As part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival we are delighted to be able to bring you this event. Are you a female entrepreneur aiming to reach your highest potential? Then this is the book you need!

Authored and designed by Abigail and Chloe Baldwin — dynamic twin sisters and successful business owners — this book unveils a unique roadmap to building confidence and a strong personal brand. Drawing from their entrepreneurial journey, the Baldwins intertwine personal anecdotes with a practical branding framework. Emphasising teamwork, personal growth, and strategic business development, it offers ten actionable strategies for women to enhance their brand and elevate their business.Follow their framework, and you’re not just boosting your profile — you’re transforming your revenue.

Join us in he shop as we speak to twin sisters, Abigail and Chloe Baldwin. This duo are creative advocates, educators, and co-founders of the design agency Buttercrumble, a creative design studio based in Leeds and established in 2017. With a focus on delivering inclusive branding, graphics and illustration that educate and connect the young and the young-at-heart, they have collaborated with high-profile brands including Mamas and Papas and Santander, and are published authors of “The Brand Power Manifesto”.

This event is part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival. Doors open 6:30pm event starts 6:45pm

An evening in conversation with SJ Bradley
2024-10-17 18:30 - 20:30 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
As part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival we are bringing you another fabulous event, join us in the shop for an evening in conversation with SJ Bradley, as she introduces us to her latest writing ‘Maps of Imaginary Towns’.

Stories emerging from the period of austerity under the leadership of Johnson and Cameron, from this established northern author and tutor of talent in literary fiction and a short fiction tutor.

From futuristic colonies to drab estates, SJ Bradley’s inventive stories showcase remarkable range. With lyrical prose and psychological depth, Bradley illuminates the quiet heroism pulsing through seemingly ordinary lives.

Beleaguered, yet resourceful social workers battle towering workloads; a harassed elderly childminder collapses under the strain; a victim of domestic abuse strikes out for freedom and disgruntled workers in dead-end jobs dream of a brighter future. These vividly rendered tales trace hard-won solace throughsmall acts of courage, exploring grief, ambition, and belonging. Gritty yet tender, ‘Maps of Imaginary Towns’ celebrates the resilience of the human spirit.

SJ Bradley is a writer from Wakefield. Her short fiction has appeared in various journals and anthologies including Conradology and Resist! Stories of Uprising from Comma Press, New Willesden Short Stories 7, Queen Mobs, Litro magazine, and Untitled Books. Her first novel, Brick Mother, and her second novel, Guest, are both published by Dead Ink. She is the editor of the Saboteur Award-winning anthology R|emembering Oluwale, which is available from Valley Press. Her work as an arts organiser involves the non-profit literary social Fictions of Every Kind (which ran for 10 years), The Northern Short Story Festivaland the Walter Swan Short Story Prize. She is also a teacher of creative writing including short story writing courses for Comma Press and First Story in Leeds and Bradford.

This event is part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival. Doors open 6:30pm event starts 6:45pm

Cecelia Ahern in conversation with Gaby Roslin
2024-10-14 20:00 - 22:00 | Old Woollen, Sunnybank Mills, 83-85 Town Street, Farsley, LS28 5UJ, United Kingdom
As part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival we are delighted to announce, an evening at the Old Woollen with multi-million bestseller and contemporary fiction powerhouse, Cecelia Ahern in conversation with one of the UK’s most popular TV and radio presenters, Gaby Roslin. Cecelia constantly defies expectations. Ever evolving, she is most recently known for her provocative, mind-bending collection Roar, adapted for TV by Nicole Kidman.

Cecilia will be taking about her latest gripping novel ‘Into the Storm‘ which is about motherhood, escaping the past, and what really happened on one wild, stormy night.

Surviving the storm is only the beginning… It is a wild night in the middle of December, and GP Enya is crouched over a teenage boy, performing CPR in the freezing rain. She found him on a mountain road near Dublin, the victim of a hit-and-run.The boy survives, but Enya goes to pieces. She leaves her husband, her son, and everything she knows to start a new life in remote rural Ireland.But even in the quiet of Abbeydooley, beneath the boughs of an ancient tree, Enya is still haunted by that night in the rain. Can the stories of strangers and a land steeped in legend lay the ghosts of her past to rest? Or will the storm she’s outrunning finally catch up with her?

Gaby hosts BBC1’s Morning Live and Ch5’s Shop Smart Save Money. She also presents on Radio 2, has released her first book Spread the Joy (Harper Collins) and also has her own incredibly successful podcast ‘Reasons to be Joyful’.She has hosted her own chat show on BBC Radio London since 2014 as well as creating and presenting Gaby’s Talking Pictures for Radio 4 & the live theatre show.

Cecelia Ahern is an Irish novelist whose work was first published in 2004. Her debut novel PS I Love You was an international bestseller and was adapted to film starring Hilary Swank. Her second novel, Where Rainbows End, was adapted into Love, Rosie starring Lily Collins. Her books have been published in over thirty-seven languages, and have sold over twenty-five million copies. In addition to her novels, she is also the author of a highly acclaimed collection of stories, Roar, which is now an Apple Original series starring Nicole Kidman on Apple TV+.

This event is part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival – Doors open 7pm

3rd FLF Book Lovers Quiz Night
2024-10-13 19:00 - 22:00 | Old Woollen, Sunnybank Mills, 83-85 Town Street, Farsley, LS28 5UJ, United Kingdom
As part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival we are exited to bring you our annual Book Lovers Quiz Night, with Gary Wigglesworth. Gary is the author of The Book Lover’s Quiz Book and he will be hosting us at the Old Woollen for what is sure to be a fun night with great prizes to be won.

The aim of all Gary’s quizzes, and his book, is that people should have fun and be able to guess (if they don’t know) as much as possible. There are lots of multiple-choice questions, some amusing answers, clever red herrings, little-known facts about authors and some of the much-loved Say What You See picture round.

Teams can be any size but each team member must have purchased an individual ticket.

This event is part of the 2024 Farsley Literature Festival

Doors open 6pm

An evening with award winning fiction writer Charlotte Mendelson
2024-09-12 18:30 - 20:00 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
Join us in the shop, as we welcome award winning fiction writer Charlotte Mendelson, to chat about her 6th novel Wife.

When Zoe moves in with Penny, their relationship looks perfect; after all, everyone wants a wife, don’t they? But this is the story of how love can become a disaster. Zoe Stamper, junior researcher in Ancient Greek Tragedy, meets fellow academic Dr Penny Cartwright at a faculty flute recital. Dr Cartwright seems impossibly glamorous to Zoe, who is, after all, several rungs down the academic pecking order – and a nervous ingénue as far as Penny’s sophisticated circle is concerned. But Penny leaves Zoe a cryptic note, and a passionate affair ensues.

Once Penny confesses all to her live-in lover, Justine, her and Zoe’s happiness seems assured. But there is something else Penny needs as badly in her life as Zoe’s adoration, and thus the beginning of their affair might also have signalled its end.

Wife is an acutely observed and coruscating novel about the joys of passionate love and motherhood, and those left behind in its wake when passion curdles. It is heartbreaking and funny, profound and gripping, as it takes the reader from the end of a relationship to its beginning, and back again.

Charlotte Mendelson’s previous novel, The Exhibitionist, was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and was The Times’ novel of the Year 2022, as well as a book of the year in, among others, The Guardian and Good Housekeeping. Her other novels include Almost English, which was longlisted for both the Man Booker and the Women’s Prize for Fiction; When We Were Bad, which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction and was a book of the year in The Observer, The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The New Statesman and The Spectator; and Daughters of Jerusalem, which won both the Somerset Maugham Award and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize.

Can You Survive the Escape Room?
2024-09-11 18:30 - 21:00 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
Join us in the shop for something very different, with drinks and escape room challenges, as author L.D. Smithson talks to us about her gripping new thriller – The Escape Room.

In February 2024 Leona published her first stand-alone thriller, The Escape Room, under the name L.D. Smithson. Her second standalone, The Shame Game, is due in 2025. All Leona’s novels draw on her experience as a psychologist. She began her career recruiting officers for West Yorkshire Police and went on to advise the likes of the Ministry of Defence and the Crown Prosecution Service on all aspects of human performance and behaviour.

Leona is an author, psychologist and public speaker, published by Transworld at Penguin Random House. Her debut novel, GONE, was Woman & Home’s Best Thriller of the Year 2019 and this was followed by three more novels in the series: LOST, HUNT and THE IMPOSTER, written under Leona Deakin.

Leona met her husband, an ex- Royal Navy Commander, while researching her second book, LOST, and the rest is history. They spend half their time in their house in Ilkley and the other half on their Narrow Boat in Worcestershire.

Doors open 6:30pm event starts 6:45pm

Real-Life Drama from the Psychotherapist's Chair with Dr Natalie Cawley
2024-09-05 18:30 - 21:00 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
Join us in the shop for an evening with Manchester author, Dr Natalie Cawley as she introduces her debut book Just About Coping. In honest stories from her own life crises and the experiences of some of her patients as she trains to be a psychotherapist, Dr Natalie Cawley takes us on a journey into the therapy room.

At the psychotherapist’s clinic of an NHS hospital, Noah needs help procrastination, Bill compulsively lies, Steph is coping with rejection and their therapist, Dr Natalie Cawley, is dealing with her own emotional crisis, breathing into a paper bag between patient sessions.

In this honest, often poignant and frequently funny memoir about training to be a psychotherapist, we meet the patients grappling with their mental health issues, from OCD and addiction to self-deception and toxic relationships, and see how Dr Natalie helps then understand and change these attempts to self-soothe.

Full of lightbulb moments, Just About Coping is a journey into our inner worlds, where the drama of our break-ups, breakdowns and breakthroughs takes place. In the times of stress and suffering, Dr Natalie reveals, we are all just coping. None of is is immune – not even your therapist.

Dr Natalie Cawley is a psychotherapist and counselling psychologist with a BSc, MSc and PsychD in psychology and has worked and trained in both the HNS and private practice, with paediatric and adult services. Her experience covers a wide range of health conditions and clinical presentations in the community and within psychiatric hospitals. Her specialism in attachment theory, the driving force behind our psychological and emotional functioning, informs all her therapeutic work. Her hobbies include stand-up comedy – mostly watching, although she has performed a set about bad dates the went better than expected.

Doors open 6:30pm event starts 6:45pm

An evening with queer historical thriller writer AJ West
2024-07-22 18:30 - 21:00 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
We are delighted to welcome AJ West to the shop to talk about his latest release ‘The Betrayal of Thomas True’. Set amidst the hidden world of Georgian London’s ‘gay’ scene, this is a brutal and devastating thriller, where love must overcome evil, and the only true sin is betrayal …

It is the year 1715, and Thomas True has arrived on old London Bridge with a dangerous secret. One night, lost amongst the squalor of London’s hidden back streets, he finds himself drawn into the outrageous underworld of the molly houses. Meanwhile, carpenter Gabriel Griffin struggles to hide his double life as Lotty, the molly’s silent guard. When the queen of all ‘he-harlots’, Mother Clap, confides in him about a deadly threat, he realises his friends are facing imminent execution.

To the horror of all mollies, there is a rat amongst them, betraying their secrets to a pair of murderous Justices, hell-bent on punishing sinners with the noose. Can Gabriel unmask the traitor before it’s too late? Can he save hapless Thomas from peril, and their own impossible love?

A.J. West’s bestselling debut novel The Spirit Engineer sold over 17,000 copies across all formats to date. It won the Historical Writers’ Association Debut Crown Award, gaining international praise for its telling of a long-forgotten true story.

An award winning BBC newsreader and reporter, he has written for national newspapers and regularly appears on network television discussing his writing and the historical context of contemporary events. A passionate historical researcher, he writes at The London Library and museum archives around the world. He was also a former contestant on Big Brother and has a massive social-media following.

Doors open 6:30pm event starts 6:45pm

An evening with debut fantasy author Sarah Brooks
2024-07-02 18:30 - 21:00 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
Join us in the shop as we meet Leeds based author Sarah Brooks and talk to her about her debut nostalgic fiction novel The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands.

‘A woman on the platform with a borrowed name. A disgraced naturalist determined to discover miracles. A child with a dangerous secret.’

Filled with wild imagination, and a fantastical twist, this piece of gloriously nostalgic fiction takes you on a wild and thrilling ride on the Great Trans-Siberian express during the golden age of steam.

It is the 19th Century and the world is awash with marvels. But there is nothing so marvellous and terrible as the Wastelands: a vast terrain that lies between Russia and China. Nothing touches this deadly wilderness except the Great Trans-Siberian Express: an impenetrable train built to carry precious cargo across continents, but which now also transports anyone willing to cross the irresistible Wastelands. The train is never short of travellers. After all, the train is completely safe.

Except . . . something happened on the last journey. No can remember exactly what, not even Weiwei, the famous ‘child of the train’ who was born on the Express. The Trans-Siberia Company insist everything has been fixed. But the old rules are changing at a remarkable speed, and as secrets and stories of this curious cast of characters begin to unravel, something uncontrollable appears to be breaking in . . .

Sarah Brooks won the Lucy Cavendish Prize in 2019. She works in East Asian Studies at the University of Leeds where she also helps run the Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing. She has a PhD on monsters in classical Chinese ghost stories. She is also co-editor of Samovar, a bilingual online magazine for translated speculative fiction. Originally from Lancashire, she now lives in Leeds.

Special storytime with children's author Susannah Lloyd
2024-06-20 10:30 - 11:00 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
We are delighted to announce a very special storytime with children’s author Susannah Lloyd, the writer of Here Be Dragons, The Terribly Friendly Fox and This Book Can Read Your Mind. Susannah lives in Yorkshire with her family and loves reading stories to her two sons. Picture book sections in libraries and book shops are her happy place. Susannah will be reading from her new book ‘Here be Giants’.

HERE BE GIANTS! Where? That’s the question in this laugh out loud picture book! All the

knights in the kingdom say our hero, a hapless knight, could never track down a giant but little do

they know our knight has just come across a most fortutious find – a book with all the tips he needs

to help him find a giant! With his long-suffering horse, and his nose in his precious “How to Spot

a Giant Before He Spots You”, the knight sets off to find a giant. He looks out for BIG things, but

all he can find are tiny forest creatures and an exasperated damsel who are all too much small. Next,

he tries going UP. He obliviously passes a beanstalk and scales a great rock instead (the giant’s leg).

Will this unobservant hero see what’s in front of him before it’s too late? Young readers will love

the easter eggs and “he’s behind you!” feel of this laugh-out-loudfollow-up to Here Be Dragons!

Launch event for 'Happily Never After' by Caroline Bond, writing as Rachel North
2024-06-13 18:30 - 21:00 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
Join us in the shop to raise a glass, as we celebrate the release of a new compulsive thriller by Caroline Bond, writing as Rachel North, ‘Happily Never After.’

Caroline is a long time friend of the shop and this is a new release under a different name, we are very excited to see it.

I wouldn’t miss this wedding for the world. It will be my last chance to put a stop to it… A small group of family and friends head to a beautiful, secluded location in the mountains of Mallorca for the wedding of Alex and Maddie.

The Finca Incantata is a magical place-a castle with a cobbled courtyard, a deep, cold, fresh-water pool and a high tower that looks out over the surrounding wilderness. The guests arrive bringing with them their pretty dresses, their smart suits and their private thoughts about the upcoming marriage. Among them is one guest who is determined to ensure the wedding does not take place…

Who is the malicious presence? Why do they hate so fiercely and so specifically? And just how far will they go to prevent Alex and Maddie tying the knot?

‘Engrossing … compulsive … enormous fun’ Sabine Durrant

‘A razor-sharp thriller’ Philippa East

‘A stonking page-turner’ Emma Curtis

An evening with debut novelist Emily Usher
2024-06-12 18:30 - 21:00 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
We are delighted to welcome debut novelist, Emily Usher, to the shop to talk about her first release ‘Wild Ground.’

In this tender and moving debut, Emily presents an aching love story impossible to forget. Braiding together past and present, Wild Ground introduces us to a young woman both coming of age and coming to terms with herself.

As a child, it was always Neef and her mother, Chrissy—troubled, beautiful, at the mercy of addiction and a revolving door of bad boyfriends. When Neef turns twelve, it is Neef and Chrissy and Barry, the much-older man who moves them from their derelict council estate in Leeds to a small Yorkshire town where he runs the local pub. On her first day in her new home, it becomes Neef and Danny, the boy who captures her attention planting flowers in the pub garden.

Neef and Danny, Danny and Neef.

Despite absent parents and small-town bigotry directed at Danny for the colour of his skin, they find solace in each other. They dream of a different life together, convinced that Neef’s stories and Danny’s near-magic touch with plants will get them there. But as they grow older, their relationship is beset by the same forces that hold their families hostage: substance abuse, poverty and racism.

But then, finally, it is just Neef. Sober, living in London, trying to tell herself she never knew a boy called Danny, never loved him, never had him wrenched away from her. That is, until Danny’s father appears looking for his missing son. Submerged in the memories she fled from, Neef is forced to reckon with her great love and loss, with what she and Danny did to each other and what others did to them.

Emily Usher grew up in West Yorkshire, and lived in Salford, Sheffield, and London before relocating to Australia. She was a winner of the Grieve Writing Competition (Hunters Writing Centre, NSW) for her short story ‘Heartbeat’. Wild Ground is her first novel.

Doors open 6:30pm event starts 6:45pm

From Happy Scribbler to Published Author - two different roads to publication with Sally Hart and Jaye Sarasin
2024-06-11 18:30 - 21:00 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
Join us in the shop to welcome these two local published authors as they chat about the process of transferring scribbles into publication.

Sally Hart lives in Pudsey, with her husband and their two children. After working as a cardiac nurse for over twenty years, she decided to take a twelve-month career break and write her first novel ‘Out of Her Mind’. In August 2022, Sally entered a Twitter pitch competition run by the publishers Bloodhound Books and they offered her a contract after reading her novel.

A police detective hunts for the connection between a killer and a nightmare-plagued nurse, in this frightening psychological thriller . . . ICU nurse Sarah Knowles is suffering from nightmares and memory lapses. She finds a vase of roses on her kitchen table but has no recollection of buying them. And why doesn’t she remember moving her belongings around?

Before she can confide her worries to her friend Anne, Anne goes missing. Meanwhile, DCI Peter Graham is hunting a serial killer known as the Beautician, who is terrorizing the West Yorkshire town of Ledforth. A fingerprint links one of Sarah’s patients at the hospital to the latest murder. What no one realizes is that Sarah has a much more significant connection to the killer— and his preparations for their reunion are almost complete. . .

Jaye Sarasin once worked for the Royal Greenwich Observatory and hence acquired a love of astronomy and by extension science fiction. She taught English and Languages at High School, reads Ursula le Guin and John le Carre , lives in Farsley, Leeds, and loves shopping at Truman Books.

Jaye’s second book, Keepers of the Sun, set in a future Chile is described as ‘dystopia meets the ancient inca’. Should Allie risk her future to save a child thief from the police? In the sun-blasted, oxygen-starved world of a future Chile Allie’s decision leads to her becoming involved with the boy’s pregnant sister and a rebel group with a charismatic leader. The girl disappears and, suspicious of the clinic treating her, Allie follows her into a rebel village in the High Andes. But someone is performing grotesque genetic experiments and the rebels have their own agenda.

Book launch of 'The Blood Promise' by Liz Mistry
2024-06-05 18:30 - 21:00 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
Join us in the shop as we celebrate the launch of a new gritty Scottish crime series by Liz Mistry, and she introduces us to The Blood Promise.

Liz moved to West Yorkshire in the late 1980s. Her gritty crime fiction police procedural novels set in Bradford embrace the city she describes as ‘Warm, Rich and Fearless’ whilst exploring the darkness that lurks beneath. Yet, her heart remains in Scotland, where childhood tales of bogey men, Bible John and grey lady ghosts fed her imagination.

Her latest work, The Blood Promise is an explosion of grit and suspense, with dashes of humour throughout, but also juggles much bigger themes, from mental health, racism and misogyny in the police force. Book 1 in the series, follows detectives Jazzy Solanki and Annie McQueen as they are called to a murder investigation, but the case becomes personal when the killer is linked to Jazzy’s stalker. The new duo must solve the case, before Jazzy becomes the next victim. Jazzy’s Scottish/Indian upbringing in contrast to Annie McQueen’s 50 something, die hard, traditional Scot make for a unique duo. Their contrasting cultural life experiences come head to head as they work together to tackle the crimes of the Lothian underworld.

This latest crime series is set around West Lothian, where Liz uses the distinctive landscape, historic heritage and Scottish culture as a backdrop to her gritty yet often humorous stories.

Struggling with clinical depression and anxiety for many years, Liz often includes mental health themes in her writing. She credits her MA in Creative Writing from Leeds Trinity University with helping her find a way of using her writing to navigate her ongoing mental health struggles. The synergy been creative and academic writing led Liz to complete a doctorate in creative writing researching the importance of representation of marginalised groups within the genre she loves.

Her husband, three children and huge extended British Indian family are a constant support to her. In her spare time, Liz loves visiting the varied Scottish and Yorkshire landscape, travelling, listening to music, reading and blogging about all things crime fiction on her website blog, The Crime Warp.

Stories from Leeds Rugby League, with Sports Journalist James Oddy & Leeds legend Alan Smith.
2024-05-29 18:30 - 21:00 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
Join us in the shop as we welcome Pudsey based Sports Journalist, James Oddy and will be joined in conversation with Leeds legend Alan Smith.

Alan played almost 500 games from the 1960s until the 1980s, winning a league title and a Challenge Cup. Alan also played for Great Britain, winning the 1970s Ashes. Alan will share his many memories and reflections on his career with Leeds and the realities of being a professional rugby league player.

James will be talking about his latest publication Blue and Amber Voices.

Blue and Amber Voices: Stories from Leeds Rugby League provides a collection of first-hand accounts of some of the greatest players to ever pull on the famous blue and amber kit of Leeds rugby league club. Spanning multiple generations and eras, the book charts the ups and downs of one of rugby league’s great clubs. Relive the glory days of the 1960s and 70s with Alan Smith, the big-spending 80s with Gary Schofield, the promise of the 90s with Francis Cummins, the domination of the 2000s with Jamie Peacock and consider the future of the game with Caitlin Beevers.

With a plethora of candid and revealing interviews from some of the most explosive and entertaining players of the last 50 years from both the UK and down under, Blue and Amber Voices offers an array of stories and insight rarely seen previously. Packed with anecdotes, triumph and tragedy, the book lifts the lid on what it takes to step on to the famous Headingley pitch for one of the world’s best-supported rugby league clubs.

James Oddy has written both nationally and internationally about sport, culture and film for such publications as FourFourTwo, Rugby League Express, Prospect and Little White Lies. His 2017 rugby league biography, True Professional: The Clive Sullivan Story, was named among The Guardian‘s sports books of the year and was the basis for an acclaimed documentary in 2021.

Blue and Amber voices, is due out at the end of April.

Doors open 6:30pm event starts 6:45pm

James Oddy has written both nationally and internationally about sport, culture and film for such publications as FourFourTwo, Rugby League Express, Prospect and Little White Lies. His 2017 rugby league biography, True Professional: The Clive Sullivan Story, was named among The Guardian‘s sports books of the year and was the basis for an acclaimed documentary in 2021.

Blue and Amber voices, is due out at the end of April.

An evening with debut author Pip Fallow
2024-05-28 18:30 - 21:00 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
Join us in the shop to talk to debut author Pip Fallow about his compelling memoir, Dragged Up Proppa.

Pip Fallow left school illiterate, prepared only for a life down the mines. This is his story of working-class life in northern England, and the country that would leave people like him behind. Dragged Up Proppa marks the arrival of a major literary working-class voice that needs to be listened to.

Pip was born in the coal-miner’s cottage where his family of eight lived, in a village near Durham. Pip was destined to join his father down the pit, but the closure of his village’s mine in the 1980s saw him at the back of the dole queue like the rest.

A lot has been written about the red wall in recent years, but Pip Fallow has lived it. This is his account of some of the most important issues affecting Britain today; from levelling-up and the north–south divide, to social mobility and class, and the devastating social upheaval caused by decades of deindustrialization and government neglect, showing how the broken promises of the past impact his village and the politics of today.

This is the memoir of a man who left school illiterate, but has now written a book. The story of a lost generation who were prepared for a life that had disappeared by the time they were ready for it; of communities with once strong social ties that have now disintegrated, and a way of living that simply no longer exists in Britain today.

This is Pip’s story of being ‘dragged up proppa’, living by his wits, working and travelling the world before finally settling a few miles from where he grew up.

Pip grew up on a council estate deep in the coal fields of County Durham. Spewed out of the newly implemented comprehensive education system and destined for a life of cutting coal, he found no coal to cut. He moved around for work and lived on his wits for a decade before landing back in a broken North East, now literate and ready to write. He is a bricklayer, published author and calls himself ‘a former young socialist’. He was shortlisted for the Sid Chaplin Award for working-class writing and has dabbled in acting, with a brief role in a Ken Loach film.

Dragged Up Proppa is his first book.

An evening with Patrick Grant
2024-05-14 20:00 - 22:00 | Old Woollen, Sunnybank Mills, 83-85 Town Street, Farsley, LS28 5UJ, United Kingdom
Join us at the charming setting of the Old Woollen for a fantastic evening with TV Presenter and judge of the BAFTA-nominated BBC series, The Great British Sewing Bee, Patrick Grant. Patrick will be in conversation with William Gaunt about his career which spans almost two decades in the fashion industry.

Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to hear the talented Patrick Grant and get a signed copy of his new book ‘The Savile Row Suit.’

Savile Row is the home of bespoke tailoring. This short street is home to many of the world’s finest tailoring houses, a street where for over 200 years royals, rock stars, and giants of the business and political worlds have come to have their clothes cut, sewn and fitted. Patrick Grant, co-owner of Savile Row tailors Norton & Sons, describes the long-standing traditions of craftsmanship that are maintained in the workrooms of this quiet corner of London’s Mayfair – a fascinating and uniquely storied world. He celebrates the extraordinary ecosystem, from the British weavers and cloth houses to the trimmings merchants, that allows Savile Row to flourish. Grant shines a light on the captivating story of Savile Row, the painstaking processes required to create a bespoke garment, and the story of his personal experiences on this most famous thoroughfare.

This book details, for the first time, the complete tailoring methods of several of Savile Row’s finest sewing tailors, providing a detailed step-by-step manual on how to hand-make a pair of trousers, waistcoat, and coat in the Savile Row style, and a shirt in the style of one of Jermyn Street’s finest shirt makers. Richly illustrated, this book gives an insight into a highly discreet and rarefied world of craftsmanship.

Patrick is the co-owner of Norton & Sons and the co-owner and Director of Community Clothing. He won Menswear Designer of the Year at the 2010 British Fashion Awards.

Patrick Grant has a lot to say about clothes; how many we buy, how we value them, what they’re made from, and importantly who made them and where. His campaigning clothes brand Community Clothing supports local clothing and textile manufacturers across the UK and Patrick is an outspoken advocate for radical change in the fashion and clothing industry, for moving beyond sustainable to circular and regenerative.
Patrick’s career in fashion has spanned almost two decades. In that time he has rebuilt the Savile Row tailor Norton & Sons, relaunched E. Tautz, for which he won Menswear Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards, and built the most successful designer collaboration in Debenham’s history with Hammond & Co. He has worked with some of the world’s best known brands including Cartier, Rolls Royce, Lotus, BMW, Mercedes, The Macallan, Chivas Regal, Barbour, Christian Louboutin, and Alexander McQueen.
Then in 2015 Patrick bought the ailing Blackburn clothing manufacturer Cookson & Clegg, saving the factory from closure. This got him thinking about the fate of the many other great UK textile and garment makers, many of which he knew well, and how to secure their future and the future prosperity of the communities that those businesses support. The result of this thinking was Community Clothing which was launched in 2016 and has since earned him widespread praise.
Patrick won Celebrity Mastermind and The Weakest Link, but didn’t do as well in Masterchef. He has written on diverse subjects for many titles including The Financial Times, The Times and GQ. He has written three books, Original Man, published in 2014, and will release LESS and The Savile Row Suit in May 2024. Patrick has a degree in Materials Science from Leeds and an MBA from Oxford, an honorary Doctorate from Heriot Watt, an honorary Fellowship from UCLan, is an honorary Professor at Glasgow Caledonian, and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. In 2018 he gave a Ted Talk about the thinking behind Community Clothing. And he is an ambassador for The King’s Foundation, a charity which supports education activities for people of all ages across the UK.
Doors open 7pm

CBeebies Star George Webster Book Signing
2024-05-10 15:00 - 17:00 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
We are thrilled to announce that Leeds born CBeebies star, BAFTA winner, author and Ambassador for People with Down’s syndrome, George Webster is back, joining us in the shop, to meet fans and sign his new book, Why Not?

Developed in partnership with George’s co-author, Claire Taylor, Why Not? follows a little boy called George as he tells the reader all about himself – who he is, his life and his experiences. George knows that having Down syndrome is an important part of him but it does not define him.

A heartfelt and inspirational story, George encourages others to give things a try – however big or small. We are all different, we are all remarkable, and we are all capable of great things! Featuring George’s real – life family and friends as well as a joyful cast of characters reflective of society.

Celebrating uniqueness and being ourselves, Why Not? highlights the importance of representation, inclusion and how our differences make us special.

With bright and bold illustrations by bestselling illustrator, Tim Budgen.

About George Webster : An actor, TV presenter and Ambassador for Mencap, George Webster was catapulted into the public eye when he spoke about Down syndrome in his myth-busting video for BBC Bitesize and was later asked to be a presenter on CBeebies.

George is the first ever CBeebies presenter with Down syndrome. In November 2022, he won a BAFTA award in the ‘Best Presenter’ category.

About Claire Taylor : Claire Taylor is a Series Producer for BBC Children’s. She has worked for the BBC for 20 years looking after much – loved and prestigious shows such as “Something Special” and “CBeebies Bedtime Stories”. Claire has been honoured to guide George through his presenting journey to date and is delighted to be working with him on this very special picture book.

About Tim Budgen : Tim Budgen is the outstanding illustrator of bestselling books such as Twenty Dinosaurs at Bedtime, Twenty Unicorns at Bedtime and The Magic Pet Shop series. Tim’s illustrations are bright, engaging and perfect for children!

Come along to meet George in the bookshop and get your copy of Why Not? personally signed.
