​Friday 10th April | 1pm - Leonard and Hungry Paul by Rónán Hession

Leonard and Hungry Paul is the story of two friends who ordinarily would remain uncelebrated. It finds a value and specialness in them that is not immediately apparent and prompts the idea that maybe we could learn from the people that we overlook in life. Leonard and Hungry Paul change the world differently to the rest of us: we try and change it by effort and force; they change it by discovering the small things they can do well and offering them to others.

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​Friday 1st May | 1pm - The Names by Florence Knapp

It is 1987, and in the aftermath of a great storm, Cora sets out with her nine-year-old daughter to register the birth of her son. Her husband intends for her to follow a long-standing family tradition and call the baby after him. But when faced with the decision, Cora hesitates. Going against his wishes is a risk that will have consequences, but is it right for her child to inherit his name from generations of domineering men? The choice she makes in this moment will shape the course of their lives.

 

Seven years later, her son is Bear, a name chosen by his sister, and one that will prove as cataclysmic as the storm from which it emerged. Or he is Julian, the name his mother set her heart on, believing it will enable him to become his own person. Or he is Gordon, named after his father and raised in his cruel image - but is there still a chance to break the mould?

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​Friday 12th June | 1pm - Heat Wave by Penelope Lively

Pauline is spending the summer at World's End, a cottage somewhere in the middle of England. This year the adjoining cottage is occupied by her daughter Teresa and baby grandson Luke; and, of course, Maurice, the man Teresa married. As the hot months unfold, Maurice grows ever more involved in the book he is writing - and with his female copy editor - and Pauline can only watch in dismay and anger as her daughter repeats her own mistakes in love. The heat and tension will lead to a violent, startling climax.

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​Friday 3rd July | 1pm - The Candlelight Murders by Gyles Brandreth

London, 1889: Famous writer Oscar Wilde is the toast of London town. But when the body of a young man of his acquaintance is found in a dark attic room, surrounded by candles, he knows he can't rest until the killer is behind bars.

 

Appealing to fellow author Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the great Sherlock Holmes, the pair set out to solve the crime. But unravelling a real-life plot is very different to writing one. Can Wilde and Doyle outsmart the murderer hiding in the shadows, before it's too late?