Saturday 9th July 7.30pm at The Bridge House Theatre. Rory McGrath Was In Conversation With Andrew Davies… 

         ‘The Father, The Son
         and The Ghostly Hole’

 ‘I remember thinking when I was about 14, “I hope God doesn’t find out I’m an atheist”.’

What a super evening was enjoyed by a wonderful audience of well over 200 people, yet another successful event put on for Warwick Words by Warwick Books.

Rory McGrath was brought up a Catholic. He was baptised, taught by nuns at Catholic school and spent his Sundays at church as an altar boy.  His life’s rhythm was set by the routine of Mass, Confession and Holy Days.  Until, that is, as a teenager in crisis, he abandoned his faith, entered the God-forsaken world and embraced its evil ways with a spring in his step.

But almost immediately he realised that in the process of giving up the Church, he had also inadvertently ‘freed’ himself from certainty, safety, confidence and hope. So, Rory never quite escaped the pull of Catholicism. Instead, his apostasy became a long and winding road which included the coincidence of marrying a (lapsed) Catholic and getting married in a Catholic church and baptising his children so they could attend the best school in the area.

Witty and reflective, The Father, The Son and The Ghostly Hole examines how being raised a Catholic always colours your view of life and death.  For Rory, it fuelled the guilt he felt in every nook and cranny of life, and it provoked an [unsuccessful] search for God in other things; sex, drugs, drink, love, family, football and the Periodic Table.  Taking the Seven Deadly sins as a starting point, The Father, The Son and The Ghostly Hole humorously reveals how, even as the most lapsed of Catholics, the religion has shaped Rory forever.

Rory McGrath was born in Cornwall in the last century. He studied at Redruth Grammar School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He is one of the best-known faces in British comedy, appearing in programmes such as They Think It’s All Over, QI and Three Men in a Boat. He was a co-founder of TV production company Hat Trick Productions, and has written jokes for many comedians, including Frankie Howerd.

His first book, Bearded Tit, was a Sunday Times bestseller and Radio 4 Book of the Week, receiving widespread acclaim:

“Rory has pulled off something rather special”  Simon Barnes

“Funny and surprisingly moving” Griff Rhys Jones

“Lyrical and beautiful”  Daily Telegraph

“A real pleasure” Sunday Express

“a gentle, warming, nostalgic and gag-ridden memoir” Daily Mail

 Rory lives in Cambridge and supports Arsenal.

 We all have a great time when authors visit, and love to meet them all. It was a particular pleasure to meet Rory as he is such a nice fella! We are delighted that Rory’s publisher Ebury have supported us in putting on this event. Do look out for our other terrific events..always on www.warwickbooks.net

On Friday 15th July 7.30pm, at The Bridge House Theatre, Gervase Phinn talked about his first novel for adults ‘The Little Village School’.

 Gervase Phinn’s first adult novel heralds the triumphant arrival on the fiction scene of  this much loved author …Gervase always gives wonderful value, and this evening was no exception as he had the large audience in the palm of his hand. Funnier than any comedian, but at the same time full of wise words, if you missed this event you really must try to see him another time. Thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyable….

 A critically damning school inspector’s report meant that a new Head Teacher had to be found for Barton-in-the-Dale Primary School. Whether it was the tight skirt, the stockings or the red shoes with silver heels, no one ever said, but there was only one candidate who stood out in the interview process. It took no time at all before Elisabeth Devine was installed, and the out-going Head Teacher, Miss Sowerbutts, was muttering and grumbling her tight-mouthed way into retirement.

Villages are small communities, though, and the gossip mill went into overtime as she, and her heels, were evaluated. Tongues wagged, judgments were made, friends fell out and enmities established. But against all this, Elisabeth worked her energetic magic on the school, the teachers, the pupils…and the recently widowed doctor and his silent young son. She began to realise, however, that no matter how well she did in changing the school’s fortunes, there was an agenda already in place for its future that she knew nothing about. Discovering it, and the devastation it would bring, means she had to rally her new friends in the village…and a motley bunch they were indeed – ranging from a precocious nine year old and the Lady of the Manor, to a caravan-dwelling grandfather and his mole-catching grandson. Fighting battles, both publicly and personally, and helping with other crises that rocked the community, Elisabeth realised just how much her new life meant to her.

A wonderfully entertaining story with heart-warming portraits of eccentric, gossiping adults and straight-talking children, this novel has all the light andshade of Gervase Phinn’s non-fiction Dales books.

GERVASE PHINN was a teacher, then General Adviser for Language Development in Rotherham before moving to North Yorkshire, where he spent ten years as a school inspector – which provided much source material for his books. He lives near Doncaster.

 This talk was arranged by Warwick Books for Warwick Words Xtra. We are delighted that Gervase’s publisher Hodder supported us in putting on this event. .

On Wednesday 29th June at 7pm, as part of Warwick Books ‘Meet The Author’ series, Salley Vickers will be talking about her book ‘Aphrodite’s Hat’ at Warwick Library

 The stories in this long-awaited collection by Salley Vickers all deal with psychological aspects of love: love given and withheld, love craved and lost, love met and disappointed; the differing shades of loves between friends, between parents and children, between children and other adults; love even, in one case, for a pet. Psychologically acute, sharply written in lucid and often witty prose, these stories, set in Venice, Greece and Rome as well as London and the English countryside, take us into the complex geography of the human heart.

Sometimes joyous and humorous, sometimes melancholy and poignant, this collection confirms Salley Vickers’ reputation as one of our most subtle and engaging writers. Salley will be talking a bout ‘Aphrodite’s Hat’ also in the context of her other books including  ‘The Other Side of You’  and ‘Dancing Backwards?

Sure to be a memorable evening for all our Salley Vickers fans.

Tickets for this event are FREE but must be booked in advance from Warwick Books, Kenilworth Books, Warwick Library or Kenilworth Library. This talk is arranged by Warwick Books as part of their ‘Meet The Author’ series with Warwick Library. We are delighted that Salley’s publisher Harper Collins have supported us in putting on this event.

Wednesday 15th June 7pm at Lord Leycester’s Hospital  in conjunction with The Warwick Society, Philippa Lewis will be talking about her new book ‘House’

The architecture of Britain’s houses displays a dizzying variety of styles and details. Brimming with 600 full-colour photographs, ‘House’ annotates hundreds of examples from every conceivable angle: from gables and pediments to chimneys and roofs; from bow windows and casements to fanlights and door furniture. Armed with a career’s worth of experience and research, Philippa Lewis takes readers up and down the country to feature examples of typically British building, including cottages, manor houses, castles, bungalows, and flats.

She also looks at houses built from a wide variety of materials, including stone, glass, wood, brick and even corrugated iron, in different settings such as rural, suburban, seaside and urban. Lively texts help identify specific details and place them in their historical context, as well as offering compelling examples of how innovative conversions of structures such as watermills, gatehouses, and churches reflect and sustain their environment. Readers interested in architectural history and design, and anyone looking to understand the nooks and crannies of their own home, will find this unique guide the most eye-opening and comprehensive of its kind.

Tickets £3.50 (£2 concessions) from Kenilworth Books or Warwick Books. This talk is arranged by Warwick Books as part of their ‘Meet The Author’ series with Warwick Library. We are delighted that Philippa’s publisher Prestel have supported us in putting on this event.

On Saturday 4th June at 7.30pm, at The Bridge House Theatre, Lynda Bellingham talked about her book ‘Lost and Found’.

‘Looking back, perhaps the single biggest problem was fear. Fear of failure, fear of other people – but mostly fear of myself. It has taken many years to discover who I really am.

It’s never too late to find yourself, however lost you may be’. In Lynda Bellingham’s blisteringly honest autobiography, the much-loved actress and Loose Women panellist revealed the truth about her life, including her search for her birth mother, only to lose her again to Alzheimer’s, and her many years married to an abusive man while playing the ‘nation’s mum’ in the Oxo ads. But Lynda never lost her sense of humour, and among the darker moments she recalls hilarious anecdotes from her time on stage and screen.

“Lost and Found” proved to be an inspiring story of getting through the tough times with the strong spirit of a survivor, and finally finding true love. And Lynda was certainly both inspiring and very amusing when she came to Warwick. As you can see from the pictures , we sold an awful lot of books and people were very keen to meet her. Her charisma shone through as did her determination to make the very best of life in the future. A great event!

This talk was arranged by Warwick Books for Warwick Words Xtra. We are delighted that Lynda’s publisher Ebury supported us in putting on this event.