About this Event
Join us for an exciting Historical Fiction panel with Essie Fox, Stephanie Bramwell-Lawes, Elle Machray, and Joanna Miller. The evening will be chaired by Sasha Butler and will consist of an author talk, audience Q&A, followed by a book signing.
About Catherine by Essie Fox
A beautifully wrought spin on Emily Bronte's evergreen classic Wuthering Heights, Fox's haunting novel finds Catherine Earnshaw rising from the grave to tell her side of the story.
Essie Fox is the Sunday Times bestselling author of seven historical novels, including The Somnambulist, shortlisted for the National Book Awards, and The Fascination, an instant Sunday Times bestseller. Her work has twice been selected as The Times Historical Book of the Month.
About Thornby Manor by Stephanie Bramwell Lawes
Warwickshire, 1891. Recently orphaned and left destitute, Briar Monroe accepts the protection of Lord Danville and the shadowed sanctuary of Thornby Manor. The great house looms above a mist-shrouded lake, its corridors heavy with secrets – not least the mysterious death of Lady Elizabeth Danville, and the unspoken tensions between her formidable widower and his magnetic son, Gabriel.
Atmospheric, intoxicating and laced with peril, Thornby Manor is a gothic tale of betrayal, obsession and a house that never forgets.
Stephanie Bramwell-Lawes grew up in the historic city of Bath and studied History and Ancient History at Exeter University. A lifelong love of literature led to a career in publishing in 2009, and her passion for books has only continued to grow ever since. Her favourite novels include Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Rebecca, and anything by Tracy Chevalier. She currently lives in Warwickshire with her husband and a small feline dictator named Ruby. Thornby Manor is her debut novel.
About Havisham by Elle Machray
A thrilling and immersive historical novel, Havisham is a queer feminist reimagining in which Dickens' most infamous female character tells her side of the story at last.
Elle Machray grew up in Birmingham to Welsh–Caribbean and Scottish parents. After graduating from the HarperCollins Author Academy in spring 2021, their debut novel Remember, Remember was longlisted for the Mslexia Novel Prize, judged by Hilary Mantel.
About The Eights by Joanna Miller
Exquisitely evoking the academic glamour of inter-war Oxford, Miller's delightful, character-led novel chronicles the friendship between four students from the university's first female intake in 1920.
Joanna Miller was raised in Cambridge and studied English at Exeter College, Oxford. sband and three children in Hertfordshire. The Eights, her debut novel, was shortlisted for The RSL Christopher Bland Prize and The East of England Book Awards. It was longlisted for The Historical Writers’ Association Debut Crown, and selected by HM Queen Camilla for The Queen’s Reading Room. The Times named it as one of The Best Historical Novels of 2025.
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Event venue & nearby stays
Waterstones, 24-26 High Street, Birmingham, United Kingdom
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