Patrick Gale has been one of our most popular authors since Notes From an Exhibition was chosen for the Richard and Judy Book Club, so we were delighted when he agreed to come and see us to read from his latest book of short stories: Gentleman’s Relish.

An audience of around 60 people gathered at Cardington Village Hall on 4th May – a glorious, sunny evening. In a voice as mellow as a good vintage wine, Patrick read a couple of the short stories from Gentleman’s Relish, and talked about the “story behind the story” as well as taking questions from the audience. Questions ranged from personal ones about his family and upbringing, to professional ones about how, where and when he does his writing. Inevitably we wanted to know how big an impact the whole Richard and Judy episode had had, and Patrick was swift to credit them with changing his life quite considerably. Not only had he been able to build a wonderful new writing room (even though he still prefers to write outside with a pen and paper!), but he had also seen his backlist take off in a spectacular fashion.

Patrick then signed copies of his books and answered individual questions as many of the audience queued to meet him.

We are now all keenly awaiting his next novel, provisionally scheduled for September release, though by Patrick’s own omission, “possibly a little later in the year!”

Patrick is a self-confessed fan and supporter of Independent Bookshops, and all of us at Burway Books would like to extend a huge thank you to him for taking time out of his busy schedule to visit us.