Maldon Books is thrilled to welcome back A.K. Blakemore this October to celebrate and discuss her highly anticipated second novel, The Glutton.

Author and poet Amy Katrina Blakemore will be joined by Samuel Fisher, author of 'Wivenhoe' and co-owner of Burley Fisher Books in London.

About The Glutton

One man with an insatiable hunger: a novel of desire and destruction in Revolutionary France, based on a true story, from the Desmond Elliott Prize-winning author of The Manningtree Witches. Sister Perpetue is not to move. She is not to fall asleep.

She is to sit, keeping guard over the patient's room. She has heard the stories of his hunger, which defy belief: that he has eaten all manner of creatures and objects. A child even, if the rumours are to be believed.

But it is hard to believe that this slender, frail man is the one they once called The Great Tarare, The Glutton of Lyon. Before, he was just Tarare. Well-meaning and hopelessly curious, born into a world of brawling and sweet cider, to a bereaved mother and a life of slender means.

The 18th Century is drawing to a close, unrest grips the heart of France and life in the village is soon shaken. When a sudden act of violence sees Tarare cast out and left for dead, his ferocious appetite is ignited, and it's not long before his extraordinary abilities to eat make him a marvel throughout the land.

About A.K. Blakemore

A. K. Blakemore is the author of two full-length collections of poetry: Humbert Summer (Eyewear, 2015) and Fondue (Offord Road Books, 2018), which was awarded the 2019 Ledbury Forte Prize for Best Second Collection. She has also translated the work of Sichuanese poet Yu Yoyo (My Tenantless Body, Poetry Translation Centre, 2019). Her poetry and prose writing has been widely published and anthologised, appearing in the The London Review of Books, Poetry, Poetry Review and The White Review, among others. Her first novel, The Manningtree Witches, won the Desmond Elliot Prize in 2021, and was shortlisted for RSL Ondaatje Prize in 2022.

About Samuel Fisher

Samuel Fisher is a writer, bookseller and publisher. His debut novel, The Chameleon, was recipient of a Betty Trask Award. His second novel, Wivenhoe, was published by Corsair in 2022. His is co-owner of Burley Fisher Books and a director of Peninsula Press.

About the event

This event will take place in the upstairs function room at The Blue Boar, located next door to our bookshop. Tickets are £5 and can be purchased directly in the shop or online through Eventbrite. Both authors books will be available to purchase after the event, where you will have the opportunity to have your books signed.