Leon Craig & Andrew Michael Hurley in conversation

We are thrilled to welcome Leon Craig and Andrew Michael Hurley to the shop to discuss their latest novels, THE DECADENCE and SALTWASH.

Doors: 6.30pm, starts: 6.45pm

Tickets are £4. Admission is free when purchasing a copy of either book.

About The Decadence:

At the height of lockdown, a group of flailing twenty-something friends makes an illicit break for freedom.

A grand country house stands empty. Once the home of Theo's great uncle, it seems like the perfect place to get high and hang out in the spring sunshine, as they eschew adult responsibilities.Since meeting as teenagers, rifts have grown amongst the group. Even as they are determined to enjoy themselves, tensions cast shadows between them - politics, sex and lies. The house, too, has its own dark history and exudes a palpable sense of menace.Where do the drugs end and the supernatural begin? Will anger and jealousy tear the friends apart, or will it be more ominous forces? Their stay at Holt House will change them all...

‘An exquisitely claustrophobic exploration of the places we do and don’t belong… This is a triumph of the queer gothic’ - Jane Flett, author of Freakslaw

About Saltwash:

Tom Shift and Oliver Keele are pen-pals. They were introduced through their respective cancer clinics. From reading Oliver's letters, Tom has deduced that Oliver is lonely and somewhat nomadic. He appears to live hand to mouth at a series of cheap B&Bs.When Oliver suggests they meet up, Tom agrees. Neither of them have long left. And, while Saltwash seems an unlikely kind of place for a holiday, he goes with it. The Castle Hotel is one of the few places still open in an off-season seaside town that has definitely seen better days but it's surprisingly busy. It becomes clear that the guests are all there for some kind of reunion, and that they know Oliver.Little by little it becomes clear that all the guests have dark and troubled histories. They are drawn to the hotel not just for the company and nostalgia but for the opportunity to win the lottery. Which for them, is the chance to have the memoires of their wrongs to be eradicated. Before they die, they all want redemption. But if we can't remember what we've done, do we become someone else? And why does Oliver want Tom at Saltwash?

About the authors:

Leon Craig is a writer from North London. She studied English at UCL, Medieval Literature at Oxford and Creative Writing at Birkbeck. Her writing has been published by the White Review, the TLS, Another Gaze and the London Magazine, among others. She is the author of the short story collection Parallel Hells.

Andrew Michael Hurley is based in Lancashire. His first novel, The Loney, won the Costa Best First Novel Award and the Book of the Year at the British Book Awards. Devil's Day, his second novel, was picked as a Book of the Year in five newspapers, and won the Encore Award. Starve Acre was made into a film starring Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark.

If you cannot make the event but would like a dedicated copy of the book, please email events.manchester@blackwell.co.uk or call us on 0161 274 3331.

Our event format is usually a 45 minute discussion between the author and interviewer, followed by a chance for audience members to ask questions. There will be the opportunity to get your book signed/dedicated after the event. Events are a brilliant opportunity to discover new books, meet authors and likeminded readers and learn something new.

Support your local bookshop and help us keep the Manchester literary scene vibrant and exciting. You can follow us on Eventbrite and social media (@BlackwellsMCR) to keep up to date on upcoming events.