Amina Shah in conversation with Jenny Colgan

Jenny Colgan discusses her latest book, 'The Secret Christmas Library', and how books by women and for women have been side-lined through history.

2025 marks 25 years since Jenny Colgan's first bestseller was published. Appropriately her latest book is set in a library at Christmas. Reflecting on a quarter of a century in the industry, Jenny explores how the landscape of books by women, for women, has changed.

About the book

The Secret Christmas Library is a funny and romantic seasonal treat which involves a quest for a missing book.

About the speakers

Jenny Colgan is the author of numerous Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling novels and has won various awards for her writing, including the Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance, the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Award and the RNA Romantic Comedy Novel of the Year Award. Her books have sold more than twelve million copies worldwide and in 2015 she was inducted into the Love Stories Hall of Fame.

Jenny is married with three children and divides her time between a castle in Fife and a flat in Edinburgh.

Amina Shah FRSE is National Librarian and CEO of the National Library of Scotland.

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