Despite the intense heat of a Summer evening, Thursday 22nd July saw Madhatter Bookshop host its first official book launch with author Nicola Cornick celebrating her latest book The Last Daughter.
Having studied Medieval History Nicola has a real love of the subject as well as a passionate interest in myth and legend. The Last Daughter takes readers from the present day to the Wars of the Roses in the 1400s with an enthralling mystery at its heart. It is a spellbinding novel about family secrets inspired by the Lovell family who lived at Minster Lovell Hall, just a few miles from Burford, and the story of the Mistletoe Bride. Many great houses have laid claim to the story of the Mistletoe Bride but it is Minster Lovell that appears to have the closest links and history and if you visit the ruins of this once beautiful house it certainly has an air that tragedy befell it.
The beauty of spending time with an author is not only to understand their passion for writing but to uncover the history of their love of their subject. It was absolute joy to chat to Nicola about how she immerses herself in the history and myth behind her books and spends time not only deep diving into written research about her characters but also spends time absorbing the atmosphere on locations such as the ruins at Minster Lovell, Waylands Smithy and one of our most famous land marks the Uffington White Horse.
We have signed copies of The Last Daughter so pop in an pick up a copy.
We are delighted that Nicola has agreed to return to Burford to talk at our Lit Fest in September (date and time to be confirmed very soon).
Head over to www.burfordlitfest.co.uk to see "What's On"
In order to make our events accessible to all, tickets for the majority of our events with authors are £5 each so why not pick out an author that you would not normally be drawn to on the shelf and immerse yourself in their passion for their subject - I am sure you will not be disappointed.