Events at The Bookshop
Robert Hutchinson Talk
Thursday14th November, 7pm
'Full of stimulating detail; gives us vivid glimpses of the world of Elizabethan espionage'
Join us at The Bookshop for a meet and greet drinks reception with British historian, Robert Hutchinson, followed by a talk and Q&A session at Sackville College about his new book, 'Henvry VIII: The Decline and Fall of a Tyrant'.
'Despite his reputation, foul deeds and cruel sense of humour, after reading this book, you might even feel a scintilla of sympathy in your heart for Henry VIII, England's most feared and ruthless king.'
Tickets for this event are £10 and available to purchase at The Bookshop. Booking is essential.
Join The Bookshop's John Pye at 2pm on December 7th, on a winter walk along East Grinstead's historic High Street, one of the longest continuous runs of 14th-century, timber-framed buildings in England. The walk will focus on several key buildings, with anecdotes aplenty.
Tickets for the tour are £10.
We might assume that our modern Christmas owes much to the Victorians. In fact, as Alison Weir and Siobhan Clarke reveal, many of our favourite Christmas traditions date back much further. Carol-singing, present-giving, mulled wine and mince pies were all just as popular in Tudor times, and even Father Christmas and roast turkey dinners have their origins in this period. The Tudor Christmas was a time of feasting, revelry and merrymaking, a twelve-day-long festival, over which the Lord of Misrule held sway, and convention was thrown to the winds. Christmas was so beloved by English people that its traditions survived remarkably unchanged in this age of tumultuous religious upheaval.
For this event Alison will be joined by fellow historian, Siobhan Clarke, to present a lecture based on their book ‘A Tudor Christmas’. Siobhan is a Guide Lecturer for Historic Royal Palaces and her second book, ‘The Tudors’ was published in 2019 by Carlton Books.
There are limited tickets available for this event. Tickets are £15. Booking is essential.
A special Christmas Ghost Walk with John Pye.
Tickets are £10.
Winter Walking Tour of
East Grinstead High Street
Saturday 7th December, 2pm
A Tudor Christmas
with Alison Weir and Siobhan Clarke
Wednesday 11th December, 7pm
East Grinstead High Street
Dickensian Ghost Tour
Thursday 12th December, 6pm
Coming Soon 2020
Wednesday 30th October
Angela Dyson Book Signing: The Love Detective Next Level
Note to self: Do not screw this up.
When Clarry Pennhaligan, rookie private detective and unlikely heroine, takes on her second case, she is determined to master the art of smart. All she has been asked to do is to infiltrate a group of women who share a rather unusual way of spending their spare time. Shouldn't be too demanding, she thinks, nothing to it. But, after her first clumsy steps reveal secrets that may best be kept hidden, her investigation gains momentum and events take a bizarre and sinister turn. Out of her depth and working above her paygrade, Clarry soon faces a very real danger. Things just got Next Level.
Saturday 16th November
Evelyne Morris Book Signing: Coma
Having survived a deadly assault, Mellissa Harris was taken to hospital, where she was put into a medically induced coma.
Whilst unconscious, she was transported back in time to relive the life of her 19th-century namesake, an English girl called Mellissa Goodchild, who was an abolitionist. She married the son of an English landowner, and she and her new husband set off to Jamaica immediately after their marriage to run a sugar plantation which had been newly bought by her father-in-law and her husband. The plantation was worked by nearly 400 slaves.
Is it a 21st-century detective story? Yes, some of it.
Is it a 21st-century life-and-death hospital drama?
Yes, some of it.
But mainly, it is a 19th-century slave story set in Jamaica during the build-up to the Christmas slave rebellion of 1831-32. And it is a love story between the abolitionist wife of a white sugar plantation and slave owner, and an African slave, both unwittingly caught up in the rebellion.
Saturday 21st December
Stuart Simmonds Book Signing: Hannah the Spanner and the Polar Bears
Bored senseless in the superstore, grumpy parents, sick reindeers, walkie-talkies from aisle 17, shower time, some very strange goings on in your back garden and an emergency visit to the Professor s house. Come join Hannah and Lucy as they join forces with some furry friends in order to help a big chubby man in a red suit save Christmas.
Saturday 9th November
Sue Wickstead Book Signing: Sparky The Dragon Bus
Sparky isn't your typical double-decker bus. Behind the dragon aand magical paintings, she's exciting and full of funand adventures for all children.Jump aboard to find out what makes Sparky so special.A children's picture story book about a Playbus. The real bus worked in Glasgow, Scotland and helped promote inclusion and support for many children who were less mobile.
Saturday 7th December
Roger Paine Book Signing: Clear Lower Deck and Ships and Sealing Wax and Many Things
CLEAR LOWER DECK
Do you know where the expression ‘grog’ comes from? Or what happened when the admiral’s parrot got seasick? Or why a gun-toting generalissimo in the Philippines distributed medals from a shoebox? Do you know why a distinguished royal visitor had difficulty in flushing the ship’s toilet in Antigua or why Invergordon was referred to as ‘dump’? Or have you heard about a cat called Oscar who was sunk with the German battleship Bismarck in World War II but survived to be sunk twice more in the ships which rescued him? The answers to these questions, and other true salty stories, can be found in this book by former Royal Navy officer Roger Paine, as he charts the ups and downs of life, both ashore and afloat. Together with recipes for rum punch and Christmas cake, plus the traditional RN toasts for each day of the week, this delightfully irreverent, and occasionally indiscreet, collection of ‘yarns’ is here to be savoured and treasured. Shortlisted for a Mountbatten Maritime Media Award, 2010
SHIPS AND SEALING WAX
Roger Paine, retired Navy commander and former secretary to the trustees of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, has authored a collection of true stories about fascinating people and places. If you have an interest in the sea, you can learn about how the cells in one of Scotland’s biggest prisons were emptied to provide crews for merchant ships in World War II, or how the father of a young musician playing in the palm court of the Titanic was sent a bill for 75p for new buttons on his uniform jacket two weeks after he drowned.
In his landlubberly tales, Paine gives a guided tour around more than twenty ancient village churches in southern England. Wonder at how a gruesome collection of human skulls provides an attraction to visitors in a parish church, and discover how a young girl waited in vain for her lover from the vicarage next door and eventually died of a broken heart. Spend springtime with Robert Browning, summer with William Morris, autumn with John Keats, and Christmas with Kenneth Grahame—and find out what inspired these poets to write as memorably as they did.
This delightful treasure trove of stories will keep you amused, astounded, and warmed in equal measure.
Monday 23rd December
Robin Driscoll Book Signing: Still Warm
It’s NYPD’s Detective Josie King’s last day on the force. As farewell toasts are raised, she receives a text-message that stops her breathing. Olive, her one-year-old goddaughter, has been kidnapped! Now no longer a cop, and without the department’s weight and resources behind her, she doggedly follows the clues the kidnapper sends her, determined to bring little Olive home!
She knows it’s personal. Someone is messing with her head, but who and why? With the clock ticking down and the hours shrinking, Josie finds Olive isn’t the only person close to her being targeted by a monster from her past.