Writing for Wellness with Charlotte Russell
2024-10-28 18:30 - 20:30 (Europe/London) | 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.

An evening in conversation with JM Hall
2024-04-18 18:30 - 21:00 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
We are delighted to welcome back friend of the shop, Yorkshire crime writer, Jonathan Hall to mark the publication of his latest release A Clock Stopped Dead.

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 are back at their usual table at the Thirsk Garden Centre café with a brand-new mystery to solve.

In 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.

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.

* * * SOLD OUT * * *An evening in conversation with Julia Chapman
2024-04-09 18:30 - 21:00 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
We are thrilled to welcome back this hugely popular writer, Julia Chapman to mark the launch of the 9th book in the witty and engaging Dales Detective series “Date with Justice”.

This mystery sees Delilah’s brother under suspicion of murder. Can Delilah and Samson prove he’s innocent? The Dales Detective Agency is on the brink of closure. Samson O’Brien has returned to his position as an undercover operative for the Met in London, and his relationship with Delilah is under pressure.

Julia has spent many years wandering but she is now glad to call the Yorkshire Dales home. Its distinctive landscape and way of life provide the setting for the Dales Detective series of novels.

An evening in conversation with debut author Jennie Godfrey
2024-03-20 18:30 - 21:00 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
Truman Books are very proud to bring you something new. Join us for a special event, as we welcome West Yorkshire debut author Jennie Godfrey, and discover the inspirations behind her first novel ‘The List of Suspicious Things.’ A story of family, community and growing up in a provincial town in troubled Yorkshire in the late 1970s during The Yorkshire Ripper’s reign of terror.

Put it in your calendar now and join us for an evening to support a new author and have some bookish chat!

Yorkshire 1979. Maggie Thatcher is prime minister, drainpipe jeans are in, and Miv is convinced that her dad wants to move their family Down South. Because of the murders. Leaving Yorkshire and her best friend Sharon simply isn’t an option, no matter the dangers lurking round their way; or the strangeness at home that started the day Miv’s mum stopped talking. Perhaps if she could solve the case of the disappearing women, they could stay after all? So, Miv and Sharon decide to make a list: a list of all the suspicious people and things down their street. People they know. People they don’t. But their search for the truth reveals more secrets in their neighbourhood, within their families – and between each other – than they ever thought possible. What if the real mystery Miv needs to solve is the one that lies much loser to home?

Jennie Godfrey, was raised in West Yorkshire and her debut novel, The List of Suspicious Things, is inspired by her childhood there in the 1970s. Jennie is a from a mill working family but as the first of the generation born after they closed, went to university and built a career in the corporate world. In 2020 she left and began to write. She is now a writer and part-time bookseller and lives in the Somerset countryside.

An evening in conversation with Dorothy Koomson
2024-03-05 20:00 - 22:00 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
Join us in the shop for an unforgettable evening as we welcome the award-winning, global, bestselling author and the UK’s biggest selling Black female writer of adult fiction, Dorothy Koomson.

Get ready to dive into the world of emotional thrillers and fascinating characters as Dorothy shares her gripping new novel with us, Every Smile You Fake, which is her nineteenth book and will be released on 15th February.

Not everything is as sit looks … ‘Please take care of my baby. But don’t try to find me. You’ll put him in danger.’

Profiler and therapist, Kez Lanyon is shocked when she finds a baby on the backseat of her car one night with an unsigned note asking her to take care of him. Kez has a good idea who the mother is: Brandee, a popular social media star with a troubled back – ground who once lived with Kez’s family. She dropped out of the limelight in recent months and if the online rumours are true, her life is in grave danger. But when did she have a baby? Who is the father?

And where is Brandee? Kez is torn. Should she wait and hope that Brandee turns up safe and well? Or should Kez risk her ownfamily by returning to her dangerous past, where her less than legal contacts could be the only way to help her save this young woman?

Time is running out. Can Kez find Bandee before it’s too late?

Dorothy Koomson is an award-winning, global bestselling author whose novels include the Sunday Times bestsellers The Friend, That Girl from Nowhere, The Ice Cream Girls, The Woman He Loved Before, The Chocolate Run and My Best Friend’s Girl.

Dorothy is passionate about stories and her love of reading inspires everything she does. She started to write because she couldn’t find the type of stories she liked to read – pacy, thought-provoking, gripping reads with a diverse set of complex, multifaceted characters. Her reputation for surprising readers with the unexpected has led to her being crowned the ‘Queen of the Big Reveal’.

Dorothy’s emotional thrillers have connected with readers all over the world; her books are regularly Sunday Times bestsellers, have sold over 2.5 million copies in the UK alone and have been translated into more than 30 languages. Her third book, My Best Friend’s Girl, was selected for the Richard & Judy Summer Reads of 2006, and her novels The Ice Cream Girls and The Rose Petal Beach were both shortlisted for the British Book Awards in2010 and 2013, respectively. A TV adaptation loosely based on
The Ice Cream Girls was first shown on ITV1 in2013, and two of her books have been optioned by Hollywood stars.

Dorothy featured on the 2021 Powerlist as one of the most influential Black people in Britain, appeared in GQ Styleas a Black British trailblazer, and was a judge for the 2022 Women’s Prize for Fiction. She passionately believes that everyone should have the opportunity to tell their story and regularly mentors aspiring authors, uses her platform to support new writers and demystifies the world of publishing in ‘The Happy Author’ podcast. Her newly launched podcast, ‘The Big Reveal’, is aimed at Book Lovers and Culture Vultures everywhere, and sees Dorothy chatting about new book choices, thoughts on tv shows and podcasts, and where she answers questions in a problem page with a difference.

As an advocate for the importance of literacy, Dorothy is a regular speaker in libraries and supports the work of Little Green Pig, a Brighton and Hove based charity that offers free writing workshops for young people in need.

Dorothy lives in Brighton and the city is an ever-present character in her novels.

Doors open 7pm, event starts 7:30pm

* * * SOLD OUT * * * The Future of Geography with Tim Marshall
2024-03-04 20:00 - 22:00 | Old Woollen, Sunnybank Mills, 83-85 Town Street, Farsley, LS28 5UJ, United Kingdom
We are delighted to bring you an evening, at the Old Woollen, with British journalist, broadcaster and author Tim Marshall. Tim will be talking about his latest book, The Future of Geography.

If you’ve ever wondered if humans are going back to the Moon, who will benefit from explorations, will Musk and Bezos’ space race ambitions ever come to fruition, the answers are here.

Space is the new frontier, a wild and lawless place. It is already central to communication, military strategy and international relations on Earth. Now, it is the latest arena for human exploration, exploitation – and, possibly, conquest. With China, the USA and Russia leading the way, the next fifty years will change the face of global politics.

With all the insight and wit that have made Tim Marshall the UK’s most popular writer on geopolitics, this gripping book shows that politics and geography are as important in the skies as on the ground, covering great-power rivalry; technology; commerce; combat in space; and what it all means for us down on Earth.

Tim Marshall is a leading authority on foreign affairs with more than 30 years of reporting experience. He as diplomatic editor at Sky News, and before that was working for the BBC and LBC/IRN radio. He has reported from 40 countries and covered conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Israel. He is the author of the No. 1 Sunday Times bestsellers Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps that Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics (which has sold over 2 million copies worldwide) and The Power of Geography: Ten Maps that Reveal the Future of Our World.

Book signing with Elly Griffiths
2024-02-08 15:00 - 16:00 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
Join us for an exciting in-person event at Truman Books! Meet the incredible author Elly Griffiths and get her latest release ‘The Last Word’ personally signed. Whether you’re a die-hard fan or new to her work, don’t miss out on this amazing chance to meet the talented author herself. Mark your calendar and get ready for an unforgettable experience!

In The Last Words, Natalka and Edwin are running a detective agency in Shoreham, Sussex. Despite a steady stream of minor cases, Natalka is frustrated, longing for something juicy to come their way. Then a murder case arrives on their doorstep – local writer Melody Chambers is found dead and her family area convinced it’s foul play.

Edwin, a big fan of the obit pages, thinks there’s a link to the writer of Melody’s obituary who pre-deceased his subject.

The trail leads Benedict and Edwin to a slightly sinister writers’ retreat. When another writer is found dead, Edwin thinks that the clue lies in the words. Seeking professional help, the amateur investigators turn to their friend, detective Harbinder Kaur, to find that they have stumbled on a plot that is stranger than fiction.

Acclaimed crime author Elly Grifiths 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.

In 2018, Elly wrote her first standalone novel The Stranger Diaries. The novel was a top 10 paperback bestseller, selected for the BBC Radio 2 Book Club, as a summer 2019 Richard and Judy book and won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in the USA. Her second standalone The Postscript Murders followed and her third standalone Bleeding Heart Yard published to glowing reviews in October 2022. The paperback of Bleeding Heart Yard was published in April 2023 and triumphantly stood as Hachette’s highest selling title of the week. In spring 2019, Elly published her first children’s book A Girl Called Justice to great reviews the fourth of this was published in May 2022.

Elly lives near Brighton with her husband, an archaeologist. She is #18 on the list of most borrowed authors from UK libraries and is a hugely in demand for events, regularly holding audiences spellbound.

Launch Event with Elliot J Harper
2024-01-31 18:30 - 21:00 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
Join us in the shop to celebrate the publication of New Gillion Street, by Leeds author Elliot Harper. Elliot will be talking about and reading from his latest book, answering questions, and signing copies.

Straight-laced and content with the comforts of his home on politically-neutral Neo-Yuthea, Albert Smith leads a quiet and unremarkable life. His days are filled with sipping tea with his beloved wife and tending to his cherished garden—a picture of tranquillity in an otherwise chaotic universe. Little does he know that destiny has extraordinary plans in store for him.

When Mr. Zand, an agent of extra-terrestrial chaos, launches his mayoral campaign, the once peaceful colony faces uncertain and unsettling times. Striking deaths attributed to mysterious forest creatures, forced arranged marriages, and a looming threat of suppressing secret garden meetings propel the community toward the edge of turmoil. In the face of this encroaching darkness, Albert and his neighbours must band together to resist oppression and fight for their freedom before their world collapses.

Elliot J Harper is a speculative fiction writer who lives in Leeds, England with his wife, Naomi.
His short story, In the Garden, won the Flash Vision 2021 contest in 2021 by The Molotov Cocktail magazine. His short story, Meme, was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2021 by Coffin Bell Journal.
He has short stories in print in The Curious Case of the Speaking Telegraph in the Spirit Machine: Tales of Seance Fiction anthology by Air and Nothingness Press, Into the Forest in The Wild Hunt: Stories of the Chase anthology by Air and Nothingness Press, There’s a Dead Bear in the Pool in Black Telephone Issue 1 by Clash Books, Blackout in The Protest Issue of Popshot Quarterly Magazine.
He has various short stories online in Maudlin House, Storgy, Akashic Books Sci-fi Friday, Neon Books, Ghost City Press, Coffin Bell, Five:2:One, Dream Noir, Litro Magazine, Horrified Magazine and Idle Ink.

Christmas Shopping Night
2023-12-14 17:30 - 20:00, 2023-11-24 17:30 - 20:00 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
Why not join us for special Christmas Late Night Shopping with mulled wine and the opportunity to get a jump on your Festive purchases. Let us help you with book and gift suggestions for all your friends and family, and maybe even a present for yourself!

Christmas Shopping Night
2023-11-29 17:30 - 20:00 | Truman Books, 95 Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HX
To coincide with the Farsley Christmas Lights switch on, why not join us for special Christmas Late Night Shopping with mulled wine and the opportunity to get a jump on your Festive purchases. Let us help you with book and gift suggestions for all your friends and family, and maybe even a present for yourself!

Book Lovers Quiz Night
2023-11-19 19:00 - 22:00 | Old Woollen, Sunnybank Mills, 83-85 Town Street, Farsley, LS28 5UJ, United Kingdom
As part of the 2023 Farsley Literature Festival we are exited to bring you something a little different. Gary Wigglesworth, author of The Book Lover’s Quiz Book will be hosting our very own Book Lovers Quiz Night. Join 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 this 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 2023 Farsley Literature Festival.
Doors open at 6pm, event starts at 7pm.
