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 or find Tam on TheHayBookClub@gmail.com

TICKETS

Participation is free if the book is purchased in advance from North Books (at a 10% discount) or a fiver if you’ve sourced your reading material elsewhere. 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 12 September, 6–8pm.

THE NEXT BOOK

Author Priscilla Morris

Our seventh novel up for discussion is Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris, shortlisted for this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction 2023.

Sarajevo, spring 1992. Each night, nationalist gangs erect barricades, splitting the diverse city into ethnic enclaves; each morning, the residents – whether Muslim, Croat or Serb – push the makeshift barriers aside.

Zora, an artist and teacher, is focused on her family, her students, her studio in the old town. But when violence finally spills over, she sees that she must send her husband and elderly mother to safety with her daughter in England. Reluctant to believe that hostilities will last more than a handful of weeks, she stays behind. As the city falls under siege and everything they loved is laid to waste, black ashes floating over the rooftops, Zora and her friends are forced to rebuild themselves, over and over.

Inspired by real-life accounts of the longest siege in modern warfare, only thirty years ago, Black Butterflies is a breathtaking portrait of disintegration, resilience and hope.