Village Books

Some of you may have seen historian Tracy Borman in the press talking about her new book on Elizabeth I and Anne Boleyn. We're delighted that she's coming to visit us in June!

Anne Boleyn is a subject of enduring fascination. By far the most famous of Henry VIII’s six wives, she has inspired books, documentaries and films, and is the subject of intense debate even today, almost 500 years after her violent death. Dramatic though this story is, of even greater interest – and significance – is the relationship between Anne and her daughter, the future Elizabeth I.

Elizabeth was less than three years old when her mother was executed. It is often assumed that her mother exerted little influence over her. But this is both inaccurate and misleading. There is compelling evidence that her mother exerted a profound influence on her character, beliefs and reign. Piecing together evidence from original documents and artefacts, this book tells the story of Anne Boleyn’s relationship with, and influence over her daughter Elizabeth. In so doing, it sheds new light on two of the most famous and influential women in history.

Tracy Borman is joint Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces and Chief Executive of the Heritage Education Trust. She studied and taught history at the University of Hull and was awarded a PhD in 1997. Tracy is the author of a number of highly acclaimed books including Crown & Sceptre, The Private Lives of the Tudors: Uncovering the Secrets of Britain’s Greatest Dynasty, Thomas Cromwell: The Untold Story of Henry VIII’s Most Faithful Servant, and more.

Tickets:

Standard ticket: £12

Book & ticket: £32 (Includes a copy of Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I, book RRP £25)

Ticket link: https://bit.ly/3JD9HRT

Village Books have added more events to their programme.

We've got cookery, history, natural history, genetics and more!

Control: The Dark History and Troubling Present of Eugenics by Adam Rutherford

Monday 24th April, 7.30pm, MCT at Alleyn's School.

Ex-Alleyn's Scientist-in-Residence, broadcaster and author Adam Rutherford will be returning to Alleyn's School to discuss his latest book Control.

How to Read a Tree by Tristan Goooley

Wednesday 26th April, 7.30pm, Junior School Hall at Alleyn's School

Have you ever looked at a tree and wondered what secrets it holds? We have just the event for you! Bestselling author Tristan Gooley will be discussing his latest book How To Read a Tree.

Deliciously Simple by Jane Lovett: Cookery Demo

Wednesday 10th May, 7.30pm, MCT at Alleyn's School

Jane's cookery books are firm favourites in the bookshop. Her latest cookery book is a collection of over 100 recipes – from starters to puddings, with everything in between – which are deceptively straightforward without any compromise on taste, and all with an emphasis on speed. Jane will be demonstrating a recipe from the book and chatting to author and journalist Felicity Cloake.

Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I: The Mother and Daughter Who Changed History by Tracy Borman

Thursday 8th June, 7.30pm, MCT at Alleyn's School

Elizabeth was less than three years old when her mother was executed. It is often assumed that her mother Anne Boleyn exerted little influence over her. There is compelling evidence that her mother exerted a profound influence on her character, beliefs and reign. Piecing together evidence from original documents and artefacts, this book tells the story of Anne Boleyn’s relationship with, and influence over her daughter Elizabeth. In so doing, it sheds new light on two of the most famous and influential women in history.

Tickets available from www.village-books.co.uk/events

JoJo Moyes is the bestselling author of a number of books including 'Me Before You', 'The Giver of Stars' and a load more. Her latest novel 'Someone Else's Shoes' went straight to No 1 in the Sunday Times Bestseller list.

Come along to Alleyn's School on Thursday 9th March at 7.30pm to listen to Jojo discuss her latest work with Editor of Good Housekeeping magazine Gaby Huddart.

Ticket link: https://bit.ly/3kr3M8y

Tickets from £12.

Hope to see some of you there!

On Tuesday 21st February at 7.30pm, chef Gennaro Contaldo will be coming to Alleyn's School for a food demo to celebrate the publication of his latest book Gennaro's Cucina: Hearty Money-Saving Meals from an Italian Kitchen

He'll be chatting to journalist and author Felicity Cloake and showing us how to make 'Tortelli al Magro'.

Tickets are from £15.

Ticket link: https://bit.ly/3QaE18k

Hope to see some of you there!

Averil Mansfield is a pioneer in her field. When she qualified as a surgeon in the early 1970s only 2% of her colleagues were female. She became the UK’s first ever female vascular surgeon. After a formidable operating career in Liverpool and London, during which she made many enduring friendships, she went on to become the UK’s first ever female professor of surgery.

Life in Her Hands is the remarkable life story of a truly trailblazing woman. Averil’s account shines light on a medical and societal world that has changed beyond measure, but which – as she shows through her experiences – still has a long way to go for the women finding their place within it.

“A great read. I am honoured to have worked with such a legend” Dr David Nott on Life in her Hands: The Inspiring Story of a Pioneering Female Surgeon

Thursday 2nd March, 7.30pm

Junior School Hall, Alleyn's School.

Tickets from £12

Ticket link: https://bit.ly/3R63KyY

We're huge fans of Jojo Moyes at Village Books and are delighted that she's coming to Dulwich in March to celebrate the publication of her new book Someone Else's Shoes

Jojo Moyes’s novels have sold 51 million copies around the world, hit the Number One spot in 12 countries and have been translated into 46 languages. Her most recent novel, The Giver of Stars, was a Sunday Times Number One bestseller and Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick.

Her latest novel Someone Else’s Shoes explores the power of female friendship and tells the story of two women in their forties who find their lives irrevocably altered when they accidentally swap gym bags…

Nisha Cantor and Sam Kemp are two very different women. When wealthy Nisha is cut off by her husband, she doesn’t even have the shoes she was standing in.

That’s because Sam, struggling to keep herself and her family afloat, has accidentally

taken Nisha’s gym bag. Now Nisha’s got nothing. And Sam’s walking tall with shoes that catch eyes – and give her career an unexpected boost.

Except Nisha wants her life back – and she’ll start with her shoes . . .

Thursday 9th March, 7.30pm

The Great Hall, Alleyn's School

Tickets from £12!

Ticket link: https://bit.ly/3kr3M8y

We're delighted to announce that Dr Rupy Aujla will be chatting to Masterchef winner and bestselling author Dr Saliha Mahmood-Ahmed at our event at Alleyn's School on Tuesday 7th February.

Rupy will be talking to Saliha about his belief that the crux of a healthy lifestyle is consistently eating well every day and the ways in which his new cookbook Cook inspires you to do just that. Rupy will be demonstrating a recipe from his book and discussing the benefits of the power of food and lifestyle medicine to create healthy habits.

Tickets from £10! Ticket link: https://bit.ly/3QhNI4Y

I'm hungry just typing this - Gennaro Contaldo is coming to Dulwich on Tuesday 21st February to celebrate the publication of his new book Gennaro's Cucina: Hearty Money-Saving Meals from an Italian Kitchen

Gennaro Contaldo’s warmth, Italian spirit and sense of fun have led him to be one of the UK’s most-loved chefs. He is renowned for being a mentor to Jamie Oliver and teaching him, with Carluccio, everything Jamie knows about Italian cooking. In 1999, he opened Passione in London, which was awarded Best Italian restaurant in 2005.

In his new cookbook, Gennaro takes us on a culinary journey of regional basic Italian staples and turns them into beautiful meals. With tips and ideas of what to do with leftovers, Gennaro helps home cooks squeeze maximum use from the ‘cucina povera’ ethos, turning humble ingredients into nourishing feasts without taste sacrifice. Encouraging an ethos of zero waste, Gennaro’s Cucina ensures that every part of the ingredient, and your budget, is put to good culinary use.

‘Proper old-school classics to use up every scrap.’ Jamie Oliver

Gennaro will be chatting to author and journalist Felicity Cloake and demonstrating some recipes from his new book.

Tickets from £15

Ticket link: https://bit.ly/3QaE18k

Hi everyone, happy new year!

We're busy getting out events programme up and running for 2023 and are delighted to announce two new events for January/February:

An Evening with Tom Rob Smith: Thursday 26th January, 7.30pm

We’re delighted to be welcoming Dulwich College alumni and bestselling author Tom Rob Smith back to the College for a special event to celebrate the publication of his new book Cold People.

The world has fallen. Without warning, a mysterious and omnipotent force has claimed the planet for their own. There are no negotiations, no demands, no reasons given for their actions. All they have is a message: humanity has thirty days to reach the one place on Earth where they will be allowed to exist . . . Antarctica.

Cold People follows the journeys of a handful of those who endure the frantic exodus to the most inhospitable environment on the planet. While they cling to life on the ice, they must also confront the most urgent of challenges: can they change and evolve rapidly enough to ensure humanity’s future? Can they build a new society in the cold?

Tom will be chatting to Dr Joseph Spence, Master of Dulwich College.

Tom Rob Smith attended Dulwich College from 1987 to 1997. Tom won the International Thriller Writer Award for Best First Novel, the Galaxy Book Award for Best New Writer, the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award, and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and the inaugural Desmond Elliot Prize. Child 44 is now a major motion picture starring Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace and Gary Oldman.

Cooks by Dr Rupy Ajula: Tuesday 7th February, 7.30pm

Dr Rupy is a trusted NHS GP and food expert behind the bestselling Doctor’s Kitchen. He has a number one rated podcast, The Doctor’s Kitchen, with over 12 million downloads to date, over 295,000 Instagram followers and a million YouTube views.

Dr Rupy’s mission is to help everybody leverage the incredible power of food and lifestyle medicine to support their wellbeing and prevent ill health. His new book Cooks demonstrates that healthy eating every day can be a celebration of ingredients from different cultures, which create dishes that are big on flavour and low on effort. Every recipe has been researched and developed to give maximal health benefits whilst being super simple and flavourful.

Dr Rupy believes that the crux of a healthy lifestyle is consistently eating well every day and this cookbook, with its easy full-flavoured recipes, inspires you to do just that. Dr Rupy will be demonstrating a recipe from his book and discussing the benefits of the power of food and lifestyle medicine to create healthy habits.

Book tickets at www.village-books.co.uk/events

With Christmas just around the corner you may be thinking about what drinks to serve on the festive day. We have the answer for you!

Join wine writer Margaret Rand and Master of Wine Simon Field for a Christmas-themed wine tasting in celebration of Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book 2023.

Put your palate to the test with two leading Champagnes and two leading English sparkling wines. Which will you prefer for Christmas? Which will Margaret and Simon prefer? Will they ever agree?

Margaret Rand has been General Editor of Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book for some 15 years and now, with Hugh's retirement, has taken over the hot seat. The book's mix of personal insight and informed recommendations has made it the world's best-selling annual wine guide. Simon Field MW is the Champagne correspondent for the book, and an expert on the subject.

Ticket price includes tasting of 4 wines and a copy of Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book 2023.

Wednesday 14th December, 7.30pm

Junior School Hall at Alleyn's School, Townley Road, East Dulwich, SE22 8SU

TICKETS: £35 (includes a copy of Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book 2023, Book RRP £14.99)

Ticket link: https://bit.ly/3AgYO37

Come along to Dulwich Village to celebrate some Christmas cheer! Meet Miss Christmas between 12pm and 3pm, listen to the Popchoir Dulwich perform at 2pm, plus there will be a mystery stock hunt for children all day, and a whole lot more!

Saturday 10th December, all day

No tickets required!

Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks will be at Village Books on Saturday 10th December to sign copies of their new book What The LadyBird Heard At Christmas!

The clever little ladybird is back to celebrate the festive season and to once again save the day! With a cast of wonderful friends, old and new, plenty of festive fun, and of course, a cunning plan to foil. What the Ladybird Heard at Christmas is the fifth title in the bestselling family favourite What the Ladybird Heard adventures.

Join everyone’s favourite crime-busting ladybird this festive season, as she visits her friend the spider in a big old haunted house. Those two bad men, Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len, are up to no good again. They have a devious plan – to steal the children’s Christmas presents from their stockings! It’s a good thing that the clever little ladybird has overheard their awful plotting, and she has a cunning plan to make sure they don’t get away with it.

Event Timings:

11.30am – 12.30pm

12.30pm – 1.30pm

Tickets:

£12.99 – includes a copy of What The Ladybird Heard at Christmas

Book tickets: https://bit.ly/3U5TDuZ

Terms & Conditions:

You will be required to show your ticket on the day of the event, to gain entry, and as proof of purchase. Please keep your ticket in a safe place. Please note the session time of your ticket.

To avoid disappointment, we must stress there will be no opportunity to meet Julia and Lydia without a ticket.

Julia and Lydia are very sorry but, in the time allowed, they will only be able to sign copies of books purchased at Village Books. If you would like to order more copies of What The Ladybird Heard At Christmas then do please contact us. Copies of all the books in the What The Ladybird Heard series and books from the Princess Mirror-Belle series will be able to purchase as well. Please contact us to order.

Should you not receive your e-ticket confirmation email please email us quoting your booking reference.

Due to the anticipated high turn-out, please come prepared to queue. You will need to queue outside on Calton Avenue so please do come dressed appropriately for the weather and keep hydrated. Our shop is small so to keep everyone safe we’ll be letting you in a few at a time.

Ticket holders will receive their copy of the book at the bookshop.

Please note the event may be filmed of photographed, as an attendee you consent to footage and/or images of you being used for promotional purposes.

If you have further questions, please contact us

Bestselling author Lucy Worsley will be visiting Village Books on Thursday 3rd November from 5pm to 6pm. Lucy will be signing copies of her bestselling new book Agatha Christie: A Very Elusive Woman. No tickets are required, just turn up at the bookshop!

If you’re not able to be here but would like a copy dedicated as a special gift, do email us at [email protected] to arrange.

Why did Agatha Christie spend her career pretending that she was ‘just’ an ordinary housewife, when clearly she wasn’t?

She was born in 1890 into a world which had its own rules about what women could and couldn’t do. Lucy Worsley’s biography is not just of an internationally renowned bestselling writer. It’s also the story of a person who, despite the obstacles of class and gender, became an astonishingly successful working woman.

With access to personal letters and papers that have rarely been seen, Lucy Worsley’s biography is both authoritative and entertaining and makes us realise what an extraordinary pioneer Agatha Christie was – truly a woman who wrote the twentieth century.

‘Christie lovers should read this biography for the same reason they read her novels.’ The Times

‘A model of how to combine biographical information, analysis and literary criticism into a propulsive narrative’ Daily Telegraph

‘Worsley’s book excels in bringing a broader historical perspective to Christie’s life and work, and her enthusiasm is infectious.’ Observer

Meet multi-million-copy-selling author of How to Train Your Dragon, Cressida Cowell! Her new book, Which Way to Anywhere, has been widely critically acclaimed and shot straight to the top of the charts.

Bring along your sketchbooks and ideas books for Cressida to see! A limited edition badge available for every copy of the new book sold.

K2 O’Hero is a seemingly ordinary boy – after all, he and his twin sister Izzabird have been sworn to keep their family’s magical history a secret. Not even their infuriating stepsiblings, Theo and Mabel, know that magic exists. They believe K2 to be the most hopeless person they have ever known.

But K2 has a secret gift: he draws maps of worlds that are beyond the wildest of imaginations. Worlds with six hundred moons, burning rivers and dark, twisty jungles alive with plants that hunt by the smell of fear. But what K2 doesn’t know, is that the maps he draws are real.

When their baby sister Annipeck is kidnapped, the warring stepsiblings will have to use K2’s gift to find a crossing point into one of those worlds and embark on a daring rescue mission. With a terrible beast and a petrifying robot assassin in their way, they must learn to work together quickly – because the future of their family is at stake …

Date: Wednesday 23rd November, 3.30pm

Time: 3.30pm - 5pm

Venue: Village Books, 1D Calton Avenue, Dulwich, SE21 7DE

No tickets required!

Village Books and Alleyn's Schools Enterprises are delighted to be hosting an event with award winning broadcasters Fi Glover and Jane Garvey on Friday 25th November.

Fi Glover and Jane Garvey don’t claim to have all the answers (what was the question?), but in their book Did I Say That Out Loud? they take modern life by its elasticated waist and give it a brisk going over with a stiff brush.

They riff together on the chuff of life, from pet deaths to broadcasting hierarchies, via the importance of hair dye, the perils and pleasures of judging other women, and the perplexing overconfidence of chino-wearing middle-aged white men named Roger.

Did I Say That Out Loud? covers essential life skills (never buy an acrylic jumper, always decline the offer of a limoncello), and suggests the disconcerting possibility that Christmas is a hereditary disease, passed down the maternal line.

At a time of constant uncertainty, what we all need is the wisdom of two women who haven’t got a clue what’s going on either.

‘You’ll laugh, you’ll nod your head so vigorously in agreement that you’ll end up with whiplash and you’ll buy a copy of this book for all your friends for Christmas. If you loved the late, great Victoria Wood, then you’ll love Fi and Jane too.’ Sarra Manning, Red Magazine

Their shared BBC Sounds podcast, Fortunately, which won the Comedy Show of the Year at the Arias in 2018, and a silver Spotlight Award, has been downloaded more than twenty million times and has over 500k subscribers.

Date: Friday 25th November, 7.30pm

Venue: The MCT at Alleyn's

Tickets from £15

Ticket link: https://bit.ly/3SoEV0i

Iain MacGregor will be returning to Dulwich in November to discuss his new book The Lighthouse of Stalingrad: The Hidden Truth at the Centre of WWII’s Greatest Battle on Thursday 10th November at 7.30pm at Alleyn's School.

The Lighthouse of Stalingrad is an enthralling, insightful look into the most decisive battle of the Second World War, shedding new light on the heroic work of those who fought and died as we mark the 80th anniversary of the famous Soviet counterattack at Stalingrad – Operation Uranus, the turning point in the war.

The foundation of the Soviet’s victory during the war was laid during the battle for the city of Stalingrad, resting on the banks of the river Volga. Within this life-and-death struggle for the heart of the city and situated on the frontline was a key strategic building, codenamed: ‘The Lighthouse’.

The Lighthouse of Stalingrad sheds new light on this iconic battle through the prism of the two units who fought for the very heart of the city itself. Iain MacGregor traveled to both German and Russian archives (now likely inaccessible to Western historians for years to come) to unearth previously unpublished testimonies by soldiers on both sides of the conflict.

“MacGregor writes with great fluency and narrative drive, and his account of the context to the battle and the complexity of its fraught swings of fortune and misfortune is compellingly terse.” William Boyd

Iain MacGregor is the author of the acclaimed oral history of Cold War Berlin: Checkpoint Charlie and his writing has appeared in the Guardian, Spectator and BBC History. He has published books on every aspect of the Second World War on the Eastern Front 1941-45 and has visited archives in Leningrad, Moscow, and Volgograd. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Tickets are £10 and available from our website: https://bit.ly/3AqZr9w

Hi everyone,

Village Books are delighted to be welcoming bestselling author Maggie O'Farrell to Dulwich on Thursday 1st September at 7.30pm at The MCT at Alleyn's.

Maggie will be discussing her hugely anticipated new novel The Marriage Portrait.

The Marriage Portrait brings to life Florence in the 1560s as Maggie tells the tale of Lucrezia, third daughter of Cosimo de’ Medici. When Lucrezia’s sister dies on the eve of marriage to Alfonso d’Este, ruler of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, Lucrezia is thrust into the limelight. Alfonso quickly asks for her hand in marriage and Lucrezia faces court life for the first time.

As Lucrezia sits in uncomfortable finery for the painting which is to preserve her image for centuries to come, one thing becomes worryingly clear. In the court’s eyes, she has one duty: to provide the heir who will shore up the future of the Ferrarese dynasty. Until then, for all of her rank and nobility, the new duchess’s future hangs entirely in the balance.

With the drama which she illuminated Shakespeare’s world, Maggie brings Renaissance Italy to life and offers an unforgettable portrait of a resilient young woman’s battle for her survival.

Maggie O’Farrell is a bestselling and award-winning author. She has written eight novels and in 2020 her novel Hamnet won the Women’s Prize for Fiction.

The Observer picked The Marriage Portrait as one of seven big books for the autumn: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/aug/21/seven-big-books-autumn-2022-maggie-ofarrell-cormac-mccarthy

Tickets are from £15 and you can buy them here: https://bit.ly/3NcxZkC

Hope to see some of you there!

Village Books and James Allen’s Girls’ School are delighted to welcome bestselling author Adam Kay to Dulwich.

This is Going to Hurt was the publishing phenomenon of the century, read by many millions, and adapted into a major TV series. But it was only part of the story.

Undoctored is the follow up book, and Adam’s funniest and most moving book yet. He reflects on what's happened since hanging up his scrubs and examines a life inextricably bound up with medicine. Battered and bruised from his time on the NHS frontline, Kay looks back, moves forwards and opens up some old wounds.

Adam Kay is an award-winning writer and comedian. His debut book, This is Going to Hurt, is a literary sensation: a Sunday Times number one bestseller for over a year, and winning a record-breaking four National Book Awards, it has sold over 2.5 million copies making it the bestselling UK narrative non- fiction book of the 21st century.

This event will be followed by a book signing.

Tickets:

Ticket & Book: £35 (Includes a copy of Undoctored, book RRP £22)

Couples Ticket & Book £50 (Includes two tickets and one copy of Undoctored, book RRP £22)

Ticket link: https://bit.ly/3OnbRoa

An Evening with Robert Harris

Thursday 22nd September, 7.30pm

The MCT at Alleyn's

Tickets from £15

Ticket link: https://bit.ly/3AQo8y8

Robert Harris is the bestselling author of Fatherland, The Ghostwriter, Munich, and more. Act of Oblivion is his spellbinding new novel reimagining the biggest manhunt of the 17th century: the search for two Englishmen, charged in the killing of King Charles I…

1660. Colonel Edward Whalley and his son-in-law, Colonel William Goffe, cross the Atlantic. They are on the run and wanted for the murder of Charles I. Under the provisions of the Act of Oblivion, they have been found guilty in absentia of high treason. In London, Richard Nayler, secretary of the regicide committee of the Privy Council, is tasked with tracking down the fugitives. He’ll stop at nothing until the two men are brought to justice. A reward hangs over their heads – for their capture, dead or alive.

Act of Oblivion is an epic journey across continents, and a chase like no other.

Robert Harris is the author of fourteen bestselling novels including the Cicero Trilogy – Imperium, Lustrum and Dictator – Fatherland, Enigma, The Ghost, An Officer and a Spy, which won four prizes including the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, and more. His work has been translated into forty languages and he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

This event will be followed by a book signing.

This is a Village Books and Alleyn's Schools Enterprises Event

From the author of the six million copy phenomenon The Tattooist of Auschwitz comes an astonishing new story, Three Sisters.

Inspired by a true story of three sisters, Heather Morris retells the story of the unbreakable bond and a fierce will to survive in this new novel. Rich in vivid detail, and beautifully told, Three Sisters will break your heart, but leave you amazed and uplifted by the courage and fierce love of three sisters, whose promise to each other kept them alive.

Two of the sisters are in Israel today, surrounded by family and friends. They have chosen Heather Morris to reimagine their story in her astonishing new novel.

Heather will be interviewed by Dr Hester Vaizey.

Tickets:

Standard Ticket ?10

Concession ?8

To book tickets please visit www.village-books.co.uk/events

We're delighted to be hosting two children's events over the next few weeks:

Saturday 21st May, 2pm - Sustainable Play: 60+ cardboard crafts and games for an earth-kind home by Sydney Piercey. This is a FREE EVENT.

Monday 30th May, 3pm - A booking signing with Jacqueline Wilson. Jacqueline will be signing copies of her new book The Magic Faraway Tree: A New Adventure. Tickets are essential

To book tickets please visit wwww.village-books.co.uk/events

Looking for something to do with the kids on Saturday 21st May? Village Books has the answer for you with a free drop in session with Sydney Piercey!

Sydney will be outside Village Books ready to demonstrate some games and craft activities from her new book Sustainable Play.

Filled with 60+ creative, accessible and plastic-free projects and play ideas, Sustainable Play is packed with crafts and games to enjoy with your children on slow, rainy or drawbridge days at home. Sydney provides you with budget-friendly, easy-to-follow ideas to play and create in this handbook, inspired by her family?s love of the simple things.

From step-by-step projects to create magical toys from your leftover cereal boxes to joy-filled games using everyday objects from around your home, Sustainable Play will equip you with the inspiration you need to entertain your children in a creative, stimulating and sustainable way ? being kind to the planet in the process.

?I adore Sydney?s approach to play? good for our planet, and good for our souls too.? ? Daisy Upton, author of Five Minute Mum

*This is a free drop in session. Sydney will be at Village Books on Saturday 21st May from 2pm to 3.30pm and will be demonstrating some of the games in her book. Do drop by and say hello to Sydney!*

Village Books have a great lineup of events in May and early June. We're proud to be working as the official bookseller at the Dulwich Festival. Hope to see some of you at our events!

Monday 16th May, 7.30pm - Small Pleasues by Clare Chambers

Wednesday 18th May, 7.30pm - Love Marriage by Monica Ali

Thursday 19th May, 7.30pm - A special fundraising event for Smart Works: An Audience with Kat Farmer

Suday 22nd May, 10.30am - Feel Good by Melissa Hemsley

Sunday 22nd May, 7.30pm - Crime novel panel with Abigail Dean, author of Girl A and Louise Candlish, author of Our House

Tuesday 24th May, 7.30pm - Russia: Revolution and Civil War 1917-1921 by Antony Beevor

Monday 30th May, 3pm - The Magic Faraway Tree: A New Adventure by Jacqueline Wilson

Wednesday 8th June, 7.30pm - Rule, Nostalgia: A Backwards History of Britain by Hannah Rose Woods

Tickets available at www.village-books.co.uk/events

We are delighted that Jacqueline Wilson will be coming to Village Books for her only London book signing to celebrate the publication of The Magic Faraway Tree: A New Adventure. This new book has been authorised by the Enid Blyton estate and is the first book in the Magic Faraway series to be written by anyone other than Enid Blyton.

Milo, Mia and Birdy are on a countryside holiday with their parents when they wander into the Enchanted Wood. Among the whispering leaves, there is a beautiful tree that stands high above the rest. They soon discover that the Magic Faraway Tree is home to some remarkable creatures, including a fairy called Silky, her best friend Moonface and a whole host of talking animals. Together the siblings explore the Faraway Tree and the extraordinary places they discover above it, including the Land of Unicorns, the Land of Bouncy Castles and the Land of Princes and Princesses.

Tickets: ?12.99, includes a signed copy of The Magic Faraway Tree: A New Adventure

For terms & conditions, and to book your ticket please visit www.village-books.co.uk/events

Village Books and Alleyn's School Enterprises are delighted to be hosting a charity event with Kat Farmer and Smart Works charity.

Get Changed is for the countless women out there who are wondering whether they know who they are anymore.

Kat Farmer delivers the personal stylist experience to readers, a step-by-step practical guide to building the ultimate new wardrobe. Borrowing from the structure of a recipe book, the prep, the ingredients and the method, Kat breaks down the process with easy-to-remember tips and tricks; the reader will come away inspired and confident that they can build a wardrobe of clothes they love. Most importantly, Kat will show that finding your confidence again and discovering the new you can be as simple as getting changed.

The book covers all the basics ? sorting out and assessing your current wardrobe, working out what works for your body type and your lifestyle, how to shop successfully, key wardrobe pieces (crucially that will work together) all tackled with Kat?s helpful, warm and funny approach.

Village Books and Alleyn?s School Enterprises are proud to be working with Smart Works. Smart Works is a UK charity that exists to give women the confidence they need to reach their full potential, secure employment and change the trajectory of their lives.

The event will also include a raffle for a high-value hamper and a personal styling session with Kat.

*A portion of all tickets sales and 100% of raffle sales will go to Smartworks*

Kat Farmer, creator of the Does My Bum Look 40 In This? blog and Instagram account, is a fashion stylist and digital-first talent, known for her role in the BBC1 styling show, You Are What You Wear and regular appearances on ITV?s This Morning. Kat is celebrated for inspiring people to dress for themselves and innovate using both old and new pieces from their wardrobe.

Tickets:

Book & Ticket ?30 (includes a copy of Get Changed by Kat Farmer discounted to ?15, book RRP ?20)

Standard Ticket ?15

Concessions: ?12

Ticket link: https://bit.ly/3JNbxO4