cuckfield · part memoir, part meditation, the book is written with humility and humour, drawing on...

CUCKFIELDBOOKFESTQueen’s Hall, High Street, Cuckfield, RH17 5EL

October 3rd-6th 2019

www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk

Lauren AceVanessa Berridge

Lionel BirnieClare ClarkJohn CraceJill DawsonMaggie Gee

Peter GuttridgeEd Halliwell

James HanrattyKate Harris

Patricia HegartyRachel Hore

Robin InceTom Jackson

Alan JuddJake Kerridge

Knife and PackerPenelope Lively

Andrew LownieRichard Moore

Jenni MurrayGreta Scacchi

Al SenterTim Tate

D J TaylorAdrian Tinniswood

Tim WaterstoneSimon WilliamsJulian Worricker

Welcome to Year Three of Cuckfield Book Festival - Bookfest! This year we are beginning on Thursday 3rd October with an event at Borde Hill where the truly magnificent gardens should be resplendent in autumn colours. A tour of the garden will combine with an author talk from a renowned garden writer.

The Literary Quiz proved very popular last year so apply for tickets early if you want to test your literary knowledge. There will be supper again at Ockenden Manor with a comedy twist this year and the welcome appearance of Hermione Cockburn who was brought up in Cuckfield. She will introduce Robin Ince who will entertain guests with a comedian’s take on what makes us human.

10.30am on Saturday 5th October sees the start of the author sessions in the Queen’s Hall. First we welcome Adrian Tinniswood who is returning with his wonderfully entertaining account of life behind the royal scenes - don’t miss the chapter on Queen Anne which tells a different story than that which you saw in The Favourite!

The next two days are packed with an infinite variety of events ranging from Mindfulness to Mountbatten to Immigration. This year we are offering a discount of 10% if you buy ten tickets at £10 each over the two days. For 16-24 year olds, we welcome you and invite you to pay at the door for £5.00 a ticket, providing spaces are available. Check the website on the day.

For anyone planning a day at the festival, there are pubs, cafés and restaurants in the village

to enjoy coffee, lunch, tea, or supper when the day has ended. And if you’ve time between sessions, there are other Cuckfield attractions to savour: why not pay a visit to Grade 1 listed Holy Trinity Church in the middle of the village - it is a fine example of a 13th century building with an outstanding decorated ceiling and stained glass by Kempe, the Victorian designer. Cuckfield Museum is not to be missed either; it traces the history of the town from its earliest times to the present day. And did you know that dinosaurs once lived in Sussex? Find out more at the museum.

Sheila Mortimer Programme Organiser

3

Welcome

www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk

© Sophie H

arvey

THURSDAY 3RD OCTOBER

2.30pm - 5pmBORDE HILL GARDEN, RH16 1XP£20.00 per person to include a tour of the garden with the Head Gardener, a glass of prosecco and canapés, and a talk.

2.30pm prompt Tour of the garden 3.30pm Glass of prosecco in the house4.00pm Vanessa Berridge with Andrewjohn Stephenson ClarkeGreat British GardenersDiscover the delights of this Edwardian Grade II* listed garden famous for its rare shrubs and trees in the company of the head gardener, Andy Stevens. Vanessa Berridge, renowned garden writer and author of the recently published Great British Gardeners will introduce her book which traces the history of British gardening through the stories of 26 key figures including Christopher Lloyd, Vita Sackville-West and William Robinson. Vanessa will be in conversation with Andrewjohn Stephenson Clarke whose great grandfather created Borde Hill garden.The garden is two miles from Cuckfield. There is a large car park and a café for those who might want to arrive for lunch first. Please note the house will not open until 3.30pm. For more information, please contact [email protected]

www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk4

FRIDAY 4TH OCTOBER7.00pm for 7.30pmSupper at Ockenden Manor, CuckfieldRobin Ince Introduced by Dr Hermione Cockburn This year we are introducing something (or someone) completely different for the supper - Robin Ince who is co-presenter with Brian Cox of the award-winning BBC Radio 4 show, The Infinite Monkey Cage. He has won the Time Out Outstanding Achievement in Comedy, was nominated for a British Comedy Award for Best Live show and has won three Chortle Awards. The Observer called his book I’m a Joke and So Are You ‘joyfully entertaining... full of warmth, wisdom and affectionate delight in the wonder and absurdity of being human.’ Robin will be introduced by Dr Hermione CockburnHermione was born and grew up in Cuckfield but moved to Edinburgh more than 25 years ago where she is currently the Scientific Director at Dynamic Earth. Her varied career has been based on an enduring passion to engage diverse audiences with science. Her BBC2 paleontology series included filming the story of Gideon Mantell and the Cuckfield dinosaur Iguanodon.

7.30pm for 8.00pmLiterary Quiz, The Talbot, High Street, Cuckfield

£5.00 per person to include a glass of wineHere is a chance to test your literary knowledge - of current fiction and of the classics. Once again, a Cuckfield book group has kindly taken on the task of producing a lively and intriguing selection of questions.Tables are for six people but there’s no need to come as a six as we can make up tables from fewer people. See page 17 for HOW TO BOOK tickets.

5www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk

SATURDAY 5TH OCTOBER10.30am - 11.30amAdrian TinniswoodBehind the ThroneA Domestic History of the Royal Household

£10.00 per personThis is no ordinary history of family life. It uncovers the reality of five centuries of life at the English court as it was lived by clerks, courtiers and clowns and crowned heads. Take an intimate and entertaining look at the private lives of monarchs from Elizabeth I to Elizabeth II. 20th C royals are included and Adrian’s unerring eye for the amusing, the poignant and the anecdotal provides an insight into what goes on in royal palaces.Adrian is the author of 15 books on social and architectural history. He has worked with the National Trust, and currently holds academic fellowships in history at the Universities of Buckingham and Bath Spa. He was awarded an OBE for services to heritage.Sponsored by Marcus Grimes

Tickets for the supper are £62.50 each for a two-course meal. You will be welcomed with a glass of Ridgeview sparkling wine accompanied by a selection of canapés. Tickets will be on sale from mid-August when the programme is published and are not available via Ticketsource. Please email Shauna Bevan at [email protected] are limited to 72 people, so early booking is advised. PLEASE NOTE: there is a maximum of four tickets per person applying and we trust that those attending the supper will also buy tickets for at least one of the Bookfest events.

12 noon - 1.00pmRobin InceI’m a Joke and So Are You Reflections on Humour and Humanity

£10.00 per personWhat better way to understand ourselves than through the eyes of comedians - those who professionally examine our quirks on stage daily? In this touching and witty book, award-winning presenter and comic Robin Ince uses the life of the stand-up as a way of exploring some of the biggest questions we all face. Where does anxiety come from? How do we overcome imposter syndrome? What is the key to creativity? How can we deal with grief? Informed by personal insights from Robin as well as interviews with some of the world's top comedians, neuroscientists and psychologists, this is a hilarious and often moving primer to the mind. Robin Ince is co-presenter of the award-winning BBC Radio 4 show, The Infinite Monkey Cage. He has toured his stand up across the world, both solo and with his radio double act partner, Professor Brian Cox.Sponsored by Adelphi Group of Companies

UPSTAIRS@CUCKFEST12 noon - 1.00pmTom JacksonPostcard from the Past

£10 per personAre the days of sending picture postcards over?

For anyone with an interest in the details of how we used to live, or in eavesdropping on other people’s conversations, these postcard messages on faded views are funny, illuminating and addictive. In a talk illustrated with suspiciously blue skies, enormous good luck cats and a squadron of one-eared donkeys, Tom Jackson will draw on his huge collection of everyday postcards to present the oddest, funniest, most touching messages. We’ll discover hidden messages, cries for help, threats and mysteries and consider whether or not it’s too late to revive the art of postcard writing.

6 www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk

1.30pm - 2.30pmJenni MurrayA History of the World in 21 Womenwith Kate Harris

£10.00 per personJenni Murray celebrates the lives, struggles and achievements of extraordinary women from around the globe. They ruled empires, they led nations. They were pioneers in the arts and geniuses of science. They spoke truth to power and fought for change. All have had a profound impact on the shaping of our world. Among the women included in her book are Joan of Arc, Benazir Bhutto, Hillary Clinton, Madonna, Coco Chanel and Margaret Attwood.

Jenni Murray is a journalist and broadcaster who has presented BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour since 1987.

[email protected] - 2.30pmJames Hanratty The Making of an Immigration Judge

£10.00 per personJames Hanratty is one of the UK’s most experienced immigration judges, having worked in many prestigious institutions including the House of Lords and the Royal Courts of Justice. He knows the country’s courtrooms - and the realities of the immigration crisis - inside out. The Making of an Immigration Judge cuts through the hysteria of the headlines to provide a definitive account of the problems facing Europe today - and how we might solve them. It offers an extraordinary insight into the problems of immigration.Part memoir, part meditation, the book is written with humility and humour, drawing on a lifetime spent in the justice business.

She will be in conversation with Kate Harris, who has worked in publishing for over 30 years, most recently as Managing Director in Oxford University Press.

Sponsored by Hurstpierpoint College

3pm - 4.00pmMaggie GeeBloodand Alan Judd Accidental Agentwith Peter Guttridge

£10 per personBlood is a Gothic black comedy seen through the eyes of Monica, ‘the wrong sort of woman’ who cannot help speaking her secret thoughts aloud. Set in Thanet, in an angry, anarchic, Brexit-ing Britain, it asks serious questions about modern life and is also a satire on power, corruption, bullying and much more. ‘Written with style and dash, without piety, without fear’ says Hilary Mantel. The Sunday Times chose it as a best summer read. Maggie Gee writes novels, short stories, memoir, poetry and journalism and she was awarded an OBE for services to literature in 2012.In Accidental Agent, Brexit looms and Charles Thoroughgood, Chief of MI6, is forbidden for political reasons from spying on the EU. But when an EU official volunteers the EU’s negotiating bottom lines to one of his officers, Charles has to report it. Authoritative and packed with in-depth knowledge, Accidental Agent is a gripping new spy thriller from a master of the genreAlan Judd is a multiple award-winning novelist whose biography of the founder of MI6 was short-listed for the Westminster Prize. He is currently The Spectator’s motoring correspondent.Peter Guttridge returns as a Bookfest moderator and is himself an award-winning crime novelist.

Sponsored by Assettrac Ltd

BLOOD MAGGIE GEE

ADULT CHILDREN TAKE REVENGE ON THEIR FATHER, BUT THE VICTIM CRAWLS BACK …

‘MAGGIE GEE IS GROUNDBREAKING AND COMPULSIVELY READABLE’ GUARDIAN

“THE LUDDS. ARTISTES OF AWFULNESS. I’M ONE OF THEM. I SHARE THE BAD BLOOD. AND YET I HAVE MY SOFTER SIDE – AS YOU’LL SEE IF YOU STAY WITH ME.

I AM MORE SINNED AGAINST THAN SINNING.”

Who attacked Dad? When corrupt, brutal dentist Albert Ludd is found battered and bloody after failing to attend a memorial party for his son, a soldier killed in Afghanistan, suspicion falls on his other children – especially 37-year-old buxom bruiser Monica, who was heard “uttering threats” against her absent father. How come her car was found outside his house? Why did she buy a

large axe? Yet Monica’s a senior teacher…

Blood is a Gothic black comedy seen through the eyes of six-foot Monica, who speaks her secret thoughts aloud and who has been banned from

social media by the principal of her school: “Governors queried your use of ‘moron’ and ‘twat’.”

Set in anarchic modern times where terrorism has become routine, Blood also asks serious questions about contemporary life: what can we do with the

monstrous men who bully women and the weak? Can we wait for a world of order and justice? If we hit back, can the circle of violence ever be broken?

MAGGIE GEE has written 15 books to great acclaim, and her work has been translated into 14 languages. One of Granta’s original ‘Best of Young British Novelists’, she has been shortlisted for global prizes including the Orange (now Women’s) Prize, and the Dublin International IMPAC Prize. She is a Professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, a Director of the Authors’

Licensing and Collecting Society and a Vice-President of the Royal Society of Literature.

Fiction Literary/Women/Crime/Humorous

Cover design: Jeremy Hopes Shutterstock / Almay

P R A I S E F O R M A G G I E G E E ’ S W R I T I N G

“I LOVE THE WORK OF MAGGIE GEE: WICKEDLY SMART, FUNNY AND FEARLESS, GENUINELY SURPRISING. READ HER.” PATRICK NESS

“GRIPPING, ORIGINAL, HIGHLY ENTERTAINING – {THE FLOOD SHOWS} MAGGIE GEE AT HER SUPERB BEST.” J. G. BALLARD

“FAST-MOVING, ENERGETIC {MY DRIVER IS} CONSTANTLY SURPRISING.” HILARY MANTEL

“UP THERE WITH ORWELL AND HUXLEY” JEREMY PAXMAN, BBC

UK £9.99 / US $15.95

@maggiegeewriterwww.fentumbooks.com

BLOOD MAGGIE GEE

129 × 198 SPINE: 24.536 FLAPS: 0


[email protected] - 4.00pmEd Halliwell MindfulnessIn conversation with Elspeth Chasser

£10.00 per personMindfulness is a powerful antidote to the stresses of modern life and teaches us how to be still in the present moment, to pay attention to our surroundings and ourselves and cultivate peaceful clarity and openness.

The Guardian has called Ed Halliwell ‘one of the UK’s leading mindfulness instructors’ and he has written several books on the subject.He leads public courses, workshops and retreats in Sussex (Cuckfield), London and Surrey.

4.30pm - 5.30pmD.J. TaylorLost Girls Love, War and Literature 1939-51and Rachel Hore The Love Childwith Peter Guttridge

£10.00 per personWho were the Lost Girls? At least a dozen or so young women at large in Blitz-era London have a claim to this title. Lost Girls concentrates on four.Chic, glamorous and bohemian, they cut a swathe through English literary and artistic life in the 1940s. Three of them had affairs with Lucian Freud. One of them married George Orwell. Another became the mistress of the King of Egypt and was flogged

by him on the steps of the Royal Palace. And all of them were associated with the decade's most celebrated literary magazine, Horizon. They are a genuine missing link between the first wave of newly liberated young women of the post-Great War era and the Dionysiac free-for-all of the 1960s.Hectic, passionate and at times unexpectedly poignant, this is their story.Intertwining across two decades, The Love Child recounts two extraordinary stories with secrets long- buried which come to light in this account of one young mother’s ultimate sacrifice when she becomes pregnant in 1917 and then a child’s desperate search to uncover the truth. This is a compelling story of love, loss and unending hope by an author whose 2018 book was a Richard and Judy book club pick.David and Rachel have been married for 29 years and both of them are successful authors. Their work is completely different but what happens in practice? Do they consult each other on possible projects, on plotting, on progress? Do they read each other’s work before submitting it to the publishers? How honest are they as critics? They will be revealing all about their daily writing lives in discussion with Peter Guttridge.Sponsored by Cuckfield Bathrooms

6.00pm - 7.00pmJill DawsonThe Language of Birdswith Jake Kerridge

£10.00 per personInspired by the infamous Lord Lucan affair, Jill Dawson explores a shocking murder and its roots from the unusual perspective of the nanny who was largely overlooked. Combining the pace of a thriller with moving poetic writing, this hypnotic novel about class, violence and friendship brings the Lucan nanny to life as a fictional yet vivid character. The Daily Mail called it ‘timely, devastating and superbly realised’.Jill Dawson was nominated for the Orange Prize and the Whitbread Novel of the Year Award. She is patron of the Maya Centre which offers therapy to women experiencing violence and


she founded a mentoring scheme for new writers.

Jill will be in conversation with Jake Kerridge, the Daily Telegraph crime fiction reviewer who selected The Language of Birds as a crime summer must-read. Jake regularly writes the books column of the Sunday Telegraph and has interviewed many leading writers.Sponsored by P & S Gallagher

7.30pm -8.30pmSimon WilliamsHey diddle-dee-dee: An Actor’s Life for Me!

£10.00 per personThose of you who’ve read Simon’s columns in The Telegraph Magazine will know he sees the world through a rose- tinted lens. After more than 50 years working in the business they call ‘show’ he is still as besotted with it as he was when he began. From weekly rep, through the heady days of Upstairs Downstairs, to today when he is a resident of Britain’s favourite village, Ambridge, as Justin Elliott in The Archers. From the roller coaster of his career, Simon will be talking about the successes and the flops. He has worked with an amazing range of actors including Peter Sellers, Celia Johnson, Victoria Wood, Nigel Havers, Marianne Faithfull, Judi Dench, and just now Aidan Turner (yes, a tiny part in Poldark). There will be laughs and nostalgia and some thoughts about the changing world around us. Simon will be taking questions, no matter how awkward, and dishing some modest dirt. Do come.

SUNDAY 6TH OCTOBER10.30am - 11.30amAndrew LownieThe Mountbattens Their Lives and Loves

£10.00 per personTo mark the 40th anniversary of Lord Mountbatten’s assassination by the IRA, comes a nuanced portrayal of two remarkable people and their complex marriage. Drawing on four years of research around the world, Andrew Lownie provides a fresh and revealing portrait of the glamorous couple behind the modern royal family. It also reveals much new information on many of the controversies of Mountbatten’s career from the disastrous 1942 Dieppe Raid to the rapid transfer of power in India in 1947 as well as his murder in 1979.Andrew Lownie has run his own literary agency since 1988. His book Stalin’s Englishman was a prize-winning biography of Guy Burgess.Sponsored by the Cockburn Trust

Party time! After Simon Williams, there will be an opportunity to sample delicious

complimentary savoury treats provided by No 1 Broad Street. We invite you

to linger in the Queen’s Hall from 8.30 onwards and enjoy them.

BLOOD MAGGIE GEE

ADULT CHILDREN TAKE REVENGE ON THEIR FATHER,

BUT THE VICTIM CRAWLS BACK …

‘MAGGIE GEE IS GROUNDBREAKING

AND COMPULSIVELY READABLE’ GUARDIAN

“THE LUDDS. ARTISTES OF AWFULNESS. I’M ONE OF THEM. I SHARE THE BAD

BLOOD. AND YET I HAVE MY SOFTER SIDE – AS YOU’LL SEE IF YOU STAY WITH ME.

I AM MORE SINNED AGAINST THAN SINNING.”

Who attacked Dad? When corrupt, brutal dentist Albert Ludd is found battered

and bloody after failing to attend a memorial party for his son, a soldier killed

in Afghanistan, suspicion falls on his other children – especially 37-year-old

buxom bruiser Monica, who was heard “uttering threats” against her absent

father. How come her car was found outside his house? Why did she buy a

large axe? Yet Monica’s a senior teacher…

Blood is a Gothic black comedy seen through the eyes of six-foot Monica,

who speaks her secret thoughts aloud and who has been banned from

social media by the principal of her school: “Governors queried your use

of ‘moron’ and ‘twat’.”

Set in anarchic modern times where terrorism has become routine, Blood

also asks serious questions about contemporary life: what can we do with the

monstrous men who bully women and the weak? Can we wait for a world of

order and justice? If we hit back, can the circle of violence ever be broken?

MAGGIE GEE has written 15 books to great acclaim, and her work has been

translated into 14 languages. One of Granta’s original ‘Best of Young British

Novelists’, she has been shortlisted for global prizes including the Orange

(now Women’s) Prize, and the Dublin International IMPAC Prize. She is a

Professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, a Director of the Authors’

Licensing and Collecting Society and a Vice-President of the Royal Society of Literature.

Fiction Literary/Women/Crime/Humorous

Cover design: Jeremy Hopes

Shutterstock / Almay


“I LOVE THE WORK OF MAGGIE GEE: WICKEDLY SMART, FUNNY AND FEARLESS, GENUINELY

SURPRISING. READ HER.” PATRICK NESS

“GRIPPING, ORIGINAL, HIGHLY ENTERTAINING – {THE FLOOD SHOWS}

MAGGIE GEE AT HER SUPERB BEST.” J. G. BALLARD

“FAST-MOVING, ENERGETIC {MY DRIVER IS} CONSTANTLY SURPRISING.”

HILARY MANTEL

“UP THERE WITH ORWELL AND HUXLEY”

JEREMY PAXMAN, BBC

UK £9.99 / US $15.95

@maggiegeewriter

www.fentumbooks.com

BLOOD MAGGIE GEE

129 × 198 SPINE: 24.536 FLAPS: 0

2pm - 5pm

Criminal Intent

a crime-writing workshop

with Peter Guttridge

£30 per personPLEASE NOTE THIS WORKSHOP IS TAKING PLACE IN THE HAYLOFT OF THE TALBOT, HIGH STREET CUCKFIELD.

It will be limited to a maximum of 15 people to allow for plenty of interaction and audience participation. Please bring pens and paper.

For those who are thinking of writing a crime novel, are partway through writing one, have written the first draft - or even are just fans of the genre - this crime -writing workshop will cover all the bases. Creating characters, plotting and delivering that plot through the narrative, twists and turns and those satisfying endings will all be covered. Whodunnits, whydunnits, howdunnits and straight down the line thrillers will all be referenced in a seminar-style workshop where discussion will be key.

Award-winning crime novelist and former Observer crime fiction critic Peter Guttridge has a wealth of experience teaching crime writing and general writing workshops in universities, libraries and writing retreats and at book festivals.

9

12.00 noon - 1pmTim WaterstoneThe Face Pressed against a Windowwith Julian Worricker

£10.00 per personTim Waterstone is one of Britain’s most successful businessmen, having built the Waterstone’s empire that started with one small bookshop in 1982. The Face Pressed Against a Window not only outlines the business philosophy that allowed the company to become the largest booksellers in Europe but it is a charming and evocative memoir recalling the childhood experiences that led Tim Waterstone to become one of the our most celebrated entrepreneurs. As the Independent said: ‘Mr Waterstone …. has made book-buying a pleasurable experience, not an obstacle course. … He has made high culture stylish’.Tim will be in conversation with Julian Worricker, a well-known R4 journalist who has been a familiar voice on radio for more than 30 years.Sponsored by David Foord-Brown Antiques

2.00pm - 3.00pmPenelope LivelyLife in the Gardenwith Al Senter

£10.00 per personPenelope Lively takes up her key themes of time and memory, and her lifelong passions for art, literature, and gardening in this philosophical and poetic memoir. From the courtyards of her childhood home in Cairo to a family cottage in Somerset, to her own gardens in Oxford and London, she conducts an expert tour, from Eden to Sissinghurst and into her own backyard, traversing the lives of writers like Virginia Woolf and Philip Larkin while imparting her own spare wisdom.

Twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize, she won it in 1987 for her highly acclaimed novel Moon Tiger.

She was made a Dame in 2012 for services to literature.

Penelope Lively will be in conversation with Al Senter who was for many years the host of the popular actor interview series at the National Theatre. A frequent guest at literary festivals, he is a practised author interviewer.

Sponsored by Maggie Kapff


5.00pm - 6.00pmRichard Moore and Lionel Birnie

The Cycling Year

£10.00 per personJoin Richard Moore and Lionel Birnie as they discuss A Journey Through the Cycling Year, covering all three of the incident-filled Grand Tours.

Richard Moore and Lionel Birnie are the hosts of The Cycling Podcast. Richard is the author of nine books, including In Search of Robert Millar, which was a British Sports Book Award winner. He is also a former racing cyclist who competed for Great Britain and for Scotland.

Lionel Birnie first covered the Tour de France in 1999 and has written for The Sunday Times, Cycling Weekly and Procycling. He co-founded and edited The Cycling Anthology series.

Sponsored by Helme & Hallett Ltd

[email protected] - 6.00pmTim Tate

Hitler’s British Traitors

with Andrew Lownie

£10.00 per personMore than 70 fascists were convicted of helping Nazi Germany to try and win the war. Using previously unseen archive material, investigative journalist Tim Tate reveals the extraordinary methods adopted by MI5 to uncover British traitors during World War II. He shows that there was indeed a small but dangerous sub-stratum which yearned for the day the swastika would fly over Buckingham Palace.

Tim Tate is a multi-award winning documentary film-maker and the author of many books on subjects as varied as the assassination of Robert F.Kennedy to the secret history of women’s football.

Tim will be in conversation with Andrew Lownie, author and literary agent.

3.30pm - 4.30pmJohn CraceDecline and Failwith Julian Worricker

£10.00 per personJohn Crace is political sketch writer for The Guardian and author of I, Maybot, the best -selling account of Theresa May’s turbulent first year in office. Whatever will have happened on the political scene by the time of Bookfest, John will provide insight into the current state of affairs. His political sketches are much admired and on average reach 14 million people a year. His latest book is an unremittingly hilarious skewering of over three years of Brexit, an edited selection of his finest writings.John will be talking to Julian Worricker, a familiar voice on BBC radio, with more than 30 years’ experience of live news and comment.Sponsored by Hurstpierpoint College


6.30pm - 7.30pmClare Clark

In the Full Light of the Sun

The Big Book Group with Julian Worricker

THIS EVENT WILL BE HELD UPSTAIRS IN THE HAYLOFT AT THE TALBOT, HIGH STREET, CUCKFIELD

£10.00 per personThe book follows the fortunes of three Berliners caught up in a devastating scandal of 1930s’ Germany. It tells the story of Emmeline, a wayward young art student; Julius, an anxious, middle-aged art expert; and a mysterious art dealer named Rachmann who are at the heart of Weimar Berlin at its hedonistic, politically turbulent apogee and are whipped up into excitement over the surprising discovery of 32 previously unknown paintings by Vincent van Gogh.

Based on a true story, unfolding through the subsequent rise of Hitler and the Nazis, this gripping tale is about beauty and justice.

William Boyd calls the book ‘a completely fascinating novel about the early twentieth-century art world … expertly researched, compellingly narrated and full of potential resonance today’.

Clare Clark is the author of five highly acclaimed historical novels. She is on the Advisory Board of the Cheltenham Literature Festival. Clare will be discussing her book with Julian Worricker who will field questions from the audience.

Those book groups that have read In the Full Light of the Sun are asked to send in questions by email to [email protected]

Please give your name and ensure your questions are submitted before September 30th. We will make a selection but there will also be a chance to ask questions directly from the floor on the night. Please come along even if you haven’t read the book.

Sponsored by The Talbot

Sunday 6th October 4.00pm - 5.30pm

Afternoon tea at Ockenden Manor Enjoy afternoon tea in the elegant surroundings of Ockenden Manor where a delicious selection of sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, cakes and various teas will be served. A glass of Ridgeview sparkling wine will be the perfect accompaniment. The irresistible additional attraction for this event will be the poetry readings from actress Greta Scacchi who has selected some well-loved poems and some not so well-known.

Tickets are £39.50 each and are only available from [email protected]

Bee Gilbert


12 noon - 12.45pm Lauren Ace

The Girls

Ages 4-7

£5.00 per personA simple but gorgeous picture book about four little girls who play in an apple tree and the women they grow into. Clear, direct and warm, it's a celebration of kindness and scraped knees, illustrated with charm by Jenny Løvlie.

Join Lauren Ace, the author of The Girls, who will introduce the four friends who star in her story, explain the inspiration behind the book and show her audience how to make a friendship card for best friends.

Lauren worked in publishing for over 10 years. An award-winning publicist, she looked after Julia Donaldson during her tenure as Children’s Laureate. The Girls is her first book and it won the Waterstones Children's Illustrated Book of the Year Prize 2019.

This is an activity session and works best with groups of no more than 30.

Family EventsPlease note that children must be accompanied by an adult.

These will take place in the Old School, Cuckfield, RH17 5JZ

SATURDAY 5TH OCTOBER10.30am - 11.15am Patricia Hegarty

Moon

Ages 3-7

£5.00 per personIt’s 50 years since Man landed on the Moon and this delightful book with its gentle rhyming text reflects on its

importance to the natural world. Join author Patricia Hegarty for a reading and activity session based on Moon. Children will have the opportunity to get creative and make their own collage artwork based on one of Britta Teckentrup’s beautiful illustrations. There will be activity sheets and, of course, prizes!

Pat Hegarty works as Editorial Director for Caterpillar Books in London. She has lived in Cuckfield for 30 years and has been writing children’s books for much of that time. The wonderful Celia Imrie and Ewan McGregor have read her stories on CBeebies.

This is an activity session and works best with groups of no more than 30.

To attend our next open day or to arrange a private visit, [email protected]

Danehill | Haywards Heath | RH17 7HT www.cumnor.co.uk | 01825 792006

N UR S ERY, P R E - P R EP& P R EP S C H O O L

“A magical environment for our child to flourish”C U M N O R P A R E N T

Building CharacterGrowing Imagination

cuckfield bookfest cumnor.qxp 11/07/2019 3:13 pm Page 1

Knife and PackerAward-winning author-illustrator team Knife and Packer are the creators of over 40 books - including Lollies winner Badly Drawn Beth and the Fleabag Monkeyface books and TV show. They take ideas from the audience and when the character has been designed they start inventing a story - with the new character the star of its own adventure. Who knows - he, she or it might one day become the hero of its very own book series! Everyone will get involved!


BLOOD MAGGIE GEE

ADULT CHILDREN TAKE REVENGE ON THEIR FATHER, BUT THE VICTIM CRAWLS BACK …

‘MAGGIE GEE IS GROUNDBREAKING AND COMPULSIVELY READABLE’ GUARDIAN

“THE LUDDS. ARTISTES OF AWFULNESS. I’M ONE OF THEM. I SHARE THE BAD BLOOD. AND YET I HAVE MY SOFTER SIDE – AS YOU’LL SEE IF YOU STAY WITH ME. I AM MORE SINNED AGAINST THAN SINNING.”

Who attacked Dad? When corrupt, brutal dentist Albert Ludd is found battered and bloody after failing to attend a memorial party for his son, a soldier killed in Afghanistan, suspicion falls on his other children – especially 37-year-old buxom bruiser Monica, who was heard “uttering threats” against her absent father. How come her car was found outside his house? Why did she buy a large axe? Yet Monica’s a senior teacher…Blood is a Gothic black comedy seen through the eyes of six-foot Monica, who speaks her secret thoughts aloud and who has been banned from social media by the principal of her school: “Governors queried your use of ‘moron’ and ‘twat’.”

Set in anarchic modern times where terrorism has become routine, Blood also asks serious questions about contemporary life: what can we do with the monstrous men who bully women and the weak? Can we wait for a world of order and justice? If we hit back, can the circle of violence ever be broken?

MAGGIE GEE has written 15 books to great acclaim, and her work has been translated into 14 languages. One of Granta’s original ‘Best of Young British Novelists’, she has been shortlisted for global prizes including the Orange (now Women’s) Prize, and the Dublin International IMPAC Prize. She is a Professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, a Director of the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society and a Vice-President of the Royal Society of Literature.

Fiction Literary/Women/Crime/HumorousCover design: Jeremy Hopes Shutterstock / Almay


“I LOVE THE WORK OF MAGGIE GEE: WICKEDLY SMART, FUNNY AND FEARLESS, GENUINELY SURPRISING. READ HER.” PATRICK NESS “GRIPPING, ORIGINAL, HIGHLY ENTERTAINING – {THE FLOOD SHOWS} MAGGIE GEE AT HER SUPERB BEST.” J. G. BALLARD “FAST-MOVING, ENERGETIC {MY DRIVER IS} CONSTANTLY SURPRISING.” HILARY MANTEL

“UP THERE WITH ORWELL AND HUXLEY” JEREMY PAXMAN, BBC

UK £9.99 / US $15.95

@maggiegeewriterwww.fentumbooks.com

BLOOD MAGGIE GEE

129 × 198 SPINE: 24.536 FLAPS: 0

1.30 pm - 2.15pm Workshop 1

Under 8 years

£5.00 per personKnife and Packer will be presenting an interactive workshop that will get everyone creating super-crazy characters. All are welcome - be prepared to draw a really SILLY mosquito (who may well have a moustache), a SLIMEY worm and even an ANGRY pancake that's come to life!

3.00 pm - 4pm Workshop 2

Ages 9-13

£5.00 per personFor older children, this Knife and Packer session will consist of a workshop that takes the audience through the process of creating a HERO, and an Arch-Nemesis, before finally bringing the two together in the epic opening page of a graphic novel. Be prepared for RIDICULOUS SUPERHEROES, ZOMBIE WITCHES and MUTANT TEACHERS.


Programme of EventsThursday 3rd October2.30pm Garden tour Borde Hill and talk Vanessa Berridge

7.30pm Literary Quiz The Talbot, Cuckfield

Friday 4th October7pm for 7.30pm Supper at Ockenden Manor Robin Ince

Saturday 5th October10.30am Behind the Throne Adrian Tinniswood

12 noon I’m a Joke and So Are You Robin Ince

12 noon (upstairs) Postcard from the Past Tom Jackson

1.30pm A History of the World Jenni Murray in 21 Women with Kate Harris

1.30pm (upstairs) The Making of an James Hanratty Immigration Judge

3pm Blood Maggie Gee and

Accidental Agent Alan Judd with Peter Guttridge

3pm (upstairs) Mindfulness Ed Halliwell with Elspeth Chasser

4.30pm Lost Girls David Taylor and

The Love Child Rachel Hore with Peter Guttridge

6.00pm The Language of Birds Jill Dawson with Jake Kerridge

7.30pm An Actor’s Life for Me Simon Williams


Family Events (to be held in the Old School, Cuckfield, RH17 5JZ)

Saturday 5th October10.30am Moon Pat Hegarty12 noon The Girls Lauren Ace1.30pm Workshop 1 (under 8 years) Knife and Packer3.00pm Workshop 2 (8-13 years) Knife and Packer

Sunday 6th October

10.30am The Mountbattens Andrew Lownie

12 noon The Face Pressed Tim Waterstone against a Window with Julian Worricker

2.00pm Life in the Garden Penelope Lively with Al Senter

2.00pm Criminal Intent Workshop with Peter Guttridge in The Talbot

3.30pm Decline and Fail John Crace with Julian Worricker

4.00pm Tea at Ockenden Manor Greta Scacchi

5.00pm The Cycling Year Richard Moore and Lionel Birnie

5.00pm (upstairs) Hitler’s British Traitors Tim Tate with Andrew Lownie

6.30pm In the Full Light of the Sun Clare Clark with Julian Worricker in The Talbot


ThanksWe are indebted once more to so many people for their support and enthusiasm, which has allowed us to organise another Cuckfield Book Festival in 2019

We especially thank Adelphi Holdings for their support, Hurstpierpoint College who generously sponsored several events in the adult programme and Cumnor House Sussex who supported children’s events.

Special thanks to:

• Borde Hill Garden

• Stephen and Judy Cockburn

• Cuckfield Society

• Cuckfield Museum

• Cuckfield Music Festival

• Independent State of Cuckfield

• Mrs Maggie Kapff

• No.1 Broad Street, Cuckfield

• Ockenden Manor Hotel

• Sacred Cellar, Cuckfield

• Sophie Harvey who drew the Queen’s Hall on page 3 especially for us

• The Talbot

And of course thanks to those who gave anonymously.

Also to Cuckfield Dramatic Society, Louis Mackay, Parish Council staff and Waterstones.

Once again, we want to thank our volunteers. Without their enthusiasm and commitment, the festival simply would not take place.

Management team: Shauna Bevan, Paul Davey, Patricia Hegarty, Gavin Jamieson, Caroline Lillywhite, Sheila Mortimer, Sam Oliver, Annie Rees, Allie Young and Sarah Vavasour.

Cuckfield Bookfest has grown up!We have become a Community Interest Company. Principally this means that the Cuckfield Bookfest is entirely focused on providing benefit to the community and local businesses of the village and surrounding areas and the authors we invite. As a CIC, we are registered with Companies House, have a board (Sheila Chasser, Sue Laing, Sheila Mortimer and Elspeth Chasser), a management team looking after the programming, finance, social media, the children’s programme, catering, marketing and, of course, our amazing volunteers.

Contact us on [email protected] if you’d like to get involved!

HOW TO BOOK

OnlineYou can buy tickets online with NO BOOKING FEE OR EXTRA CHARGES (print your tickets at home to avoid mailing costs) at www.ticketsource.co.uk/cuckfieldbookfest or via the link on the website www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk10% discount if tickets at £10 each for 10 events over the two days are bought at the same time. Do book early as some events are expected to sell out quickly. We welcome 16-24 year olds and invite you to pay at the door at half-price for all £10 tickets, providing spaces are available. Check Ticketsource on the day (details above).

In personYou can also buy tickets in person (cash or cheque) at Marcus Grimes, South Street, Cuckfield during normal office hours.

On the doorWhile we recommend advance booking for all events, if seats or cancellations are available, you can buy these at the door on the day (cash or cheque), both at the Queen’s Hall or at the Old School for children’s events.

No 1 Broad Street, Cuckfield offers thoughtfully sourced, beautifully prepared food, matched with an elegant

wine list, served in a relaxed contemporary setting.www.1broadstreet.co.uk


4th October - Friday evening supper at Ockenden Manor, Cuckfield6th October - Sunday afternoon tea at Ockenden Manor, CuckfieldTickets for both these events are only available by applying to Shauna Bevan: [email protected] by cheque made out to Cuckfield Book Festival. Please include a stamped addressed envelope when you receive confirmation from Shauna that you have tickets.Tickets are non-refundable unless the event in question has been cancelled. Events are subject to change and Cuckfield Book Festival cannot be held responsible for programming changes. Seating is unreserved. Doors open approximately 15 minutes before each event.

Social MediaKeep up to date with the latest news about Cuckfield Bookfest:Email [email protected] CuckfieldBookFestInstagram cuckbookfest/Twitter @cuckfieldbfWebsite www.cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk

RefreshmentsThere will be refreshments available each day - tea, coffee, wine, soft drinks, cakes and biscuits.On Saturday night, after Simon Williams, No. 1 Broad Street are offering complimentary savoury treats. Do stay and enjoy them.

Book salesOnce again Waterstones will be selling books signed by the authors appearing at Cuckfield Bookfest.

SPONSORS

CUCKFIELD VILLAGE MAP

Designed and printed by Action Press, Burgess Hill18

THE TALBOT

Bee Gilbert

David Levenson

Les Wilson

Colin Bell

Nick Rankin

Yves Salmon

Enjoy the view of the South Downs while you eat.If you’re looking for a great lunch then call in at Ockenden Manor and experience our award-winning restaurant.

Ockenden Manor Hotel & Spa, CuckfieldTo book a table, call: 01444 416111 More information: www.hshotels.co.uk/ockenden-manor

This voucher entitles you to a two course lunch for £16 per person, or a three course lunch for £20 per person and is valid until Friday 29th November 2019. Max 8 people per table. Valid Monday to Thursday, excludes key dates, subject to availability and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Please bring this voucher with you to redeem this offer.

Proud to be supporting the Cuckfield Bookfest.

DROP IN FOR A DELICIOUS LUNCH

AT OCKENDEN MANOR, CUCKFIELD

We use the freshest ingredients, locally sourced in Sussex,

to ensure a meal to remember.

Cuckfield Bookfest £16 Lunch OfferEnjoy two courses for just £16 per person, or three courses for £20 per person

cuckfield · part memoir, part meditation, the book is written with humility and humour, drawing on...

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