When it comes to its wealth of writing talent, Stroud most certainly punches well above its size! Come and hear from three Five Valleys authors whose compelling and drama-filled debut novels have been published in the past year.

Sarah Edghill is a former journalist who in 2016 won Stroud Book Festival’s Katie Fforde Contemporary Fiction Award. Her debut is “A Thousand Tiny Disappointments” which tells of Martha, whose already fraught life as wife, mother and daughter is thrown into painful disarray with the death of her elderly mother. Soon she is also faced with a terrible dilemma.

Dan Glaister formerly worked at The Guardian as a writer, editor and foreign correspondent. His debut is “A Melancholy Event”, an eerie and macabre novel based on real events. It concerns Stephanie who finds a hand-written story in a box of old papers. Haunted by its tale of tragic ritual, she becomes determined to harness its ghoulish beauty for her own ends.

Hannah Persaud is a prize-winning short story writer: winner of InkTears Short Story Contest and the Fresher Writing Prize among others. Her debut novel is “The Codes of Love”, a portrait of modern marriage and of love and obsession, which tells of Ryan and Emily, a couple who appear to have it all. But beneath the surface, trouble is brewing in the shape of Ada, a whimsical, high-spirited stranger.

* with thanks to Clare Honeyfield at Made in Stroud for allowing us to borrow her title!

Chaired by Jane Bailey

Venue: Lansdown Hall

Tickets: £10