North Books’ Hay Book Group has been initiated by Hay Book Club.

The group meets on the second Tuesday of every month and refreshments will be included. Please note that the Tuesday group is looking for new members and your first session (introductory) would be free to attend.

For more information or to sign up, call into the shop or email jules@northbooks.co.uk.

TICKETS

This is a seated event so places are limited. Participation will cost £5 (or free if the book is purchased in advance from North Books at a 10% discount). Please email Jules on jules@northbooks.co.uk or pop into the shop to pre-order the book. You can also register at https://bookclubs.com/clubs/5985288/join/4bc300/ to receive updates.

At North Books, 4 Castle Street, Hay-on-Wye on Tuesday 13 June, 6–8pm.

THE BOOK

Our fifth novel up for discussion is The Romantic by William Boyd, a New York Times bestseller.

Virginia Woolf once wrote in her diaries that she meant to write about death, but “life came breaking in as usual”. In The Romantic, as in all of Boyd’s best books, life is always breaking in.

The sentences – even the death sentences – thrum with life: its seemingly irreversible errors, decisions and indignities. There is a moment in this novel where the protagonist reads his own obituary – then cheerfully moves on.