Events at Stanfords – Page 5

Book Launch: Running on Empty by Guy Deacon

Last week we hosted the launch of Running on Empty by Guy Deacon.

Stanfords Event: Wayfarer by Phoebe Smith

Last night we celebrated the launch of adventurer Phoebe Smith’s new book Wayfarer. Phoebe was interviewed by editor and travel writer Meera Dattani in front of a packed out audience.

Stanfords Event: ‘Cycling the North Coast 500’ with Mike Wells

The bike racks all around Covent Garden were full last night as we welcomed lots of cyclists to hear Mike Wells talk about his Cicerone guide Cycling the North Coast 500: A cyclist-friendly guide to Scotland’s NC500.

Stanfords Event: ‘All the Wide Border’ with Mike Parker

Last night we hosted an author event with author and map lover (he loves them nearly as much as we do) Mike Parker who came to talk about his book All the Wide Border which is out now in paperback.

There is a line on the map: to one side Wales, small, rugged and stubborn; on the other England, crucible of the most expansionist culture the world has ever seen. It is a line that has been dug, debated, defined and defended for twenty centuries.

All the Wide Border is a personal journey through the places, amongst the people, and across the divides of the border between England and Wales. Taking in some of our loveliest landscapes, and our darkest secrets, this is a region of immeasurable wonder and interest. It is here that the deepest roots and thorniest paradoxes of Britishness lie. The border between the countries, even as a concept, is ragged, jagged and many-layered.

Mike Parker has adored and explored these places his entire life. Born in England but settled in Wales, he finds himself typical of many in being pulled in both directions. His journey is divided into three legs, corresponding with the watersheds of the three great border rivers: the Dee in the north, the Severn in the centre, the Wye in the south. Neither quite England nor Wales, the furzy borderland he uncovers – the March – is another country.

Picking apart the many notions and cliches of Englishness, Welshness and indeed Britishness, Mike Parker plays with the very idea of borders: our fascination with them, our need for them, and our response to their power. In his hands, the England-Wales frontier is revealed to be a border within us all, and it is fraying, fast.

All the Wide Border is available now for £10.99

We have signed copies available while stocks last.

Book Launch: ‘The Tower’ by Flora Carr

Last night we hosted the launch of debut author Flora Carr’s historical novel The Tower.

Three women cross a loch. It is 1567, one of them is pregnant, two of them fretful. The boat takes them to Lochleven castle in the middle of the water. Awaiting them are courtiers braying for blood, hellbent on keeping one of them under lock and key: Mary Queen of Scots.

In the tower, Mary’s maids Frenchwoman, Cuckoo and watchful Scot, Jane are her only allies, and the chamber their entire world. A new reality sets in where they are at the mercy of not only their keepers, but of raging Scotland itself.

In the outside world, Mary’s kin, Queen Elizabeth claims she can do little but write. Downstairs, the shrewd jailor-courtier Margaret Erskine places her daughter-in-law Agnes in the chamber as her pair of eyes. Hope seems futile until the bewitching Lady Seton arrives. Seton’s power shifts everything in the tower and soon a plan is hatched.

But which of them will risk it all to save their mistress? Which woman loves her queen best? The Tower is a triumphant story of desire, grit, God-given power and wiles from a striking new voice in historical fiction.

The Tower is available now for £16.99

Stanfords Event: ‘The Return of the Grey Partridge’ with Roger Morgan-Grenville

Thank you to everyone who attended our event with Roger Morgan-Grenville last night. It was a really interesting evening hearing all about his new book The Return of the Grey Partridge.