Blackwell’s Manchester is absolutely thrilled to be welcoming Eliza Clark to Manchester for the launch of her stunning new novel Penance. Already one of our favourite books of the year, it’s an utterly chilling, compulsive story of a murder among teenagers, on the eve of the historic Brexit vote. Eliza will be in conversation with Lara Williams (The Odyssey, Supper Club)

About the book:

Do you know what happened already? Did you know her? Did you see it on the internet? Did you listen to a podcast? Did the hosts make jokes?

Did you see the pictures of the body?

Did you look for them?

It’s been nearly a decade since the horrifying murder of sixteen-year-old Joan Wilson rocked Crow-on-Sea, and the events of that terrible night are now being published for the first time.

That story is Penance, a dizzying feat of masterful storytelling, where Eliza Clark manoeuvres us through accounts from the inhabitants of this small seaside town. Placing us in the capable hands of journalist Alec Z. Carelli, Clark allows him to construct what he claims is the ‘definitive account’ of the murder – and what led up to it. Built on hours of interviews with witnesses and family members, painstaking historical research, and most notably, correspondence with the killers themselves, the result is a riveting snapshot of lives rocked by tragedy, and a town left in turmoil.

The only question is: how much of it is true?

About the author:

Eliza Clark has relocated from her native Newcastle back to London, where she previously attended Chelsea College of Art. In 2018, she received a grant from New Writing North’s ‘Young Writers’ Talent Fund’. Her debut novel, Boy Parts, was released by Influx Press in July 2020, and it has since been Blackwell’s Fiction Book of the Year. In 2022, Eliza was chosen as a finalist for the Women’s Prize Futures Award for writers under thirty-five.

This event is being held at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation.

Doors: 18.00, event starts: 18.30

Tickets are £5.00 or free when pre-ordering a copy of the book. Penance will also be available to purchase on the night and Eliza will be signing copies after the talk. If you would like a signed copy but cannot make the event, please contact us on 0161 274 3331 or manchester@blackwell.co.uk and we can arrange this for you.