Blackwell’s bookshop is delighted to welcome Sarah Moss back to Manchester for the launch of her new book The Fell  — an incredibly tense and darkly funny novel set during the November lockdown. Sarah will be in conversation with Naomi Frisby.

About the book:

At dusk on a November evening in 2020 a woman slips out of her garden gate and turns up the hill. Kate is in the middle of a two-week quarantine period, but she just can’t take it any more — the closeness of the air in her small house, the confinement. And anyway, the moor will be deserted at this time. Nobody need ever know. But Kate’s neighbour Alice sees her leaving and Matt, Kate’s son, soon realizes she’s missing. And Kate, who planned only a quick solitary walk – a breath of open air – falls and badly injures herself. What began as a furtive walk has turned into a mountain rescue operation… Unbearably suspenseful, witty and wise, The Fell asks probing questions about the place the world has become since March 2020, and the place it was before. This novel is a story about compassion and kindness and what we must do to survive, and it will move you to tears.

About the author:

Sarah Moss is the author of eight novels including the Sunday Times top ten bestseller Summerwater, and Ghost Wall, which was longlisted for the Women’s Prize. She has also written a memoir of her year living in Iceland. She was born in Glasgow and grew up in the north of England. After moving between Oxford, Canterbury, Reykjavik, Cornwall and the Midlands, she now lives in Dublin where she teaches English and creative writing at UCD.

Naomi Frisby is a writer, interviewer and educator. Her work has been published in Trauma: Writing About Art and Mental Health (Dodo Ink) and The Book of Sheffield (Comma Press). Her short stories have been shortlisted for The White Review Short Story Prize, and longlisted for the Manchester Fiction Prize. She was recently awarded a multi-artform micro-commission by Ilkley Literature Festival. She co-hosts the books podcast Late To It and is a PhD candidate in Creative Writing at Sheffield Hallam University.

This event is being held at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation. Doors: 6.30, event starts at 7.00. Tickets here.

The Fell and Sarah’s other novels will be available to purchase on the night (card only) and she will be signing copies after her talk. If you would like a signed copy but cannot make the event please contact us on 0161 274 3331 or manchester@blackwells.co.uk and we can arrange this for you. Covid-19 precautions will be adhered to in order to ensure the safety of of our attendees, authors and booksellers.