There's a chance you're aware that Maggie O'Farrell has a new novel out - I may have mentioned it. She is doing a series of events promoting the books, one of which was a talk at Blackwell's in Oxford with Sarah Franklin. I hadn't organised myself to get hold of a ticket, but then my amazing friend Sam ended up having a spare ticket and invited me along - what luck!
I've seen Maggie O'Farrell talk about her work before, but it was still great to hear her in conversation about her new book. Sarah Franklin was a great interviewer and their talk was fascinating - I wish it had been recorded so I could share it with you here. Luckily the event was live-tweeted on the Tinder Press feed, so you can get a taste of the conversation there. Maggie talked about her inspirations for the novel, and how a few ideas for it slowly grew over several years, and finally came together to form This Must Be The Place. She is a charming speaker and it was a great relaxed evening; I even summoned the courage to ask a question!
The event started with Maggie reading from the opening of the novel, which was lovely - I always appreciate hearing an author read their work as it was meant to sound. And the evening ended with an informal signing - I got another first edition hardback of Maggie O'Farrell's signed, which was great, and got to tell her how much I loved the book and the evening. A success!
