Siân will be joining us on 18 July for a conversation about her wonderful book Pearl, longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize.

‘Pearl, an exceptional debut novel, is both a mystery story and a meditation on grief, abandonment and consolation, evoking the profundities of the haunting medieval poem. The degree of difficulty in writing a book of this sort – at once quiet and hugely ambitious – is very high. It’s a book that will be passed from hand to hand for a long time to come.’
— The Booker Prize 2023 judges

Marianne is eight years old when her mother goes missing.
Left behind with her baby brother and grieving father in a ramshackle house on the edge of a small village, she clings to the fragmented memories of her mother’s love; the smell of fresh herbs, the games they played, and the songs and stories of her childhood.

As time passes, Marianne struggles to adjust, fixated on her mother’s disappearance and the secrets she’s sure her father is keeping from her. Discovering a medieval poem called Pearl and trusting in its promise of consolation, Marianne sets out to make a visual illustration of it, a task that she returns to over and over but somehow never manages to complete.

Tormented by an unmarked gravestone in an abandoned chapel and the tidal pull of the river, her childhood home begins to crumble as the past leads her down a path of self-destruction. But can art heal Marianne? And will her own future as a mother help her find peace?

Siân Hughes is a writer who grew up in a small village in Cheshire where Pearl is set.
Siân lives in Cheshire where she owns and runs the independent bookshop Magpie Books.

We are so excited for this one. Join us for an evening of conversation while we open the Real Magic Bar and chat to Siân.

TICKETS HERE