Our trip through literary Berkshire takes us from the peaceful open country of the Downs right into the hustle and bustle of a very well known station. Read on to find out which authors resided here and which places and landmarks appear in famous works of literature. Are you a local Berkshire author? Pop into Beatons Crowthorne and let Tearooms Owner, Paul Mitchell know, he'll ensure you have a place here and perhaps we can stock your book and help you when you launch your next?!
Nicola May Nicola May lives in Ascot, near the famous racecourse, with her black-and-white rescue cat, Stan. Her hobbies include watching films that involve a lot of swooning, crabbing in South Devon, eating flapjacks (so she'll be very at home in any Beatons!) – and, naturally, enjoying a flutter on the horses.
She classes
her novels as ‘chick lit with a kick,’ writing about love, life and friendships in
a real, not fluffy kind of way. She likes burgers, mince pies, clocks, birds,
bubble baths and facials - but is not so keen on aubergines. Nicola’s website is www.nicolamay.com. She is on
Twitter @nicolamay1, Instagram as author_nicola and has a Facebook page too. Her latest book (2018) is entitled 'The Corner Shop in Cockleberry Bay' and features a dog called Hot... She's already done a signing at Beatons Crowthorne and a talk and signing is lined up for Beatons Petersfield in August.
We have Richard Adams, author of Watership Down, was born in Newbury and was educated at Bradfield College. In his childhood he grew to love the open countryside of the Berkshire Downs, south of Newbury.
Michael Bond was born in Newbury and is the world-famous creator of the much-loved Paddington bear. He bought the teddy bear for his wife and called it Paddington after the station they lived near to.
Amanda Jennings was born in London in 1973, and her family moved to a village in rural Berkshire when she was young. Unsure what career she wanted to pursue, she decided to follow in her architect mother’s footsteps and accepted a place to read architecture at Cambridge University, but it soon became clear it wasn’t for her and she changed course to History of Art – more writing, less physics! After university, she and a friend set up a company writing copy for small businesses, which paid just enough for rent and wine, but not quite enough for food. As fun as it was, a rethink was required when she fell pregnant. A few years later Amanda went to work at the BBC, but she missed looking after her daughter, and could no longer ignore her yearning to write. When she became pregnant with her second child, and encouraged by the success of a shortlisted sitcom script in a BBC writing competition, she took the opportunity to be at home with the children, grabbing every spare moment she could find to write. Sworn Secret, her first novel, The Judas Scar her second and most recently in her wake. Amanda lives just outside Henley-on-Thames with her husband, three daughters and a varied menagerie. She is writing her third book and is a regular guest on BBC Berkshire’s Culture Club. In a parallel fantasy life she is an ex-downhill skier, turned Blue Peter presenter, turned battery chicken liberator.
Virginia Macgregor
'I was brought up in Germany, France and England by a mother who never stopped telling stories. From the moment I was old enough to hold a pen, I set about writing my own, often late into the night – or behind my Maths textbook at school. My maiden name is Virginia Woods: I was named after two great women, Virginia Wade and Virginia Woolf, in the hope I would be a writer and a tennis star. My early years were those of a scribbling, rain-loving child who prayed for lightning to strike my tennis coach. After studying at Oxford, I started writing regularly whilst working as an English Teacher and Housemistress. I write contemporary fiction, rooted in family life. Through my fiction I address some of the most pressing social and ethical issues of our age. I love to write from multiple points of view and my novels often include a child and a quirky animal (or two).' What Milo Saw, The astonish return of Norah Wells.
Julie Cohen I’ve been writing constantly since then and have had, to date, twenty books published under my own name and pseudonyms. My books have sold over three-quarters of a million copies and have been translated into fifteen languages. I’ve won or been shortlisted for several awards, including the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Romance Prize, the National Readers’ Choice Award, and the HOLT Medallion. My latest paperback, DEAR THING, was selected for the Richard and Judy Summer Book Club. I give workshops for fiction writers all over the UK and the US. And despite not really being able to draw, I’m the official cartoonist for the Sherlock Holmes Journal.
I live in Berkshire, England, with my husband, a guitar tech for rock bands, and our young son, who loves books and fast cars. I’m teased daily about my American accent, and wouldn’t mind having a gorgeous neighbour possessed by the devil.
Miranda K Lloyd
Local editor and copywriter, among other things Miranda has edited the locally written book, Voyages, published in 2014. This is a collection of short stories by a local writers group and to help raise money for charity.
Miranda is now working on putting together another local anthology titled Reading: the light and dark sides. Ready to contribute to Readings cultural year of 2016 to be published in October. Look out for this on our shelves.
Claire DyerMy poetry is now widely published in magazines, anthologies and e-zines and my first collection, Eleven Rooms, is published by Two Rivers Press.
My novels, The Perfect Affair and The Moment and my FREE short-story, Falling for Gatsby are published by Quercus.
I have been Chairman of Reading Writers, was Clerk of The Worshipful Company of Management Consultants and, until recently, worked for an HR research forum in London. My sons are now in their twenties, I have three cats and love all types of cheese. I am a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, The Poetry Society, The Poetry Book Society and The Society of Authors.
Andrew Tatham
Recently reviewed on the Jeremy Vine show, The Book stands in its own right even without going to the exhibition. There are some wonderful and touching stories to be told of these men and their families. You may not know who these individuals are but in telling their specific stories and making artwork based on them, I am aiming to say some things that are universal to all of us as human beings - about the mysteries of life and death, about how we choose to deal with the things that life chooses for us, and about how we are remembered.