Heather Darwent & Cailean Steed

We are very much looking forward to welcoming and along to the bookshop to hear all about their thoroughly thrilling, superbly twisted and alarmingly vivid debut novels, and .

Heather and Cailean will be in conversation with our Fiction, Sci Fi and Fantasy expert, Stephanie Goulden. Book your tickets now for our event on Thursday 9th Feburary at 7pm.

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The Things We Do To Our Friends

Clare arrives at the University of Edinburgh with a secret. This is her chance for a blank slate: to finally find the right people and become who she was meant to be.

And then she meets Tabitha.

Tabitha is charismatic, beautiful and intimidatingly wealthy. Soon Clare is sucked into her enigmatic circle of friends and their dizzying world of champagne on rooftops and summers in France.

Her new life has begun.

Then Tabitha reveals the little project they're working on, a project they need Clare's help with. It's reckless, possibly perilous and might just make her as rich as them.

But how much is an extraordinary life worth if others have to pay?

Heather Darwent is based just outside of Edinburgh. Originally from Yorkshire, she came to Scotland to study History of Art at the University of Edinburgh, like her character Clare, and ended up never quite leaving. When she's not writing, you'll find her reading chaotic non-fiction about Silicon Valley and swimming in the sea . . . or being unbearably boring in conversation about swimming in the sea.

The Things We Do To Our Friends is her debut novel.

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Home

'Absorbing, moving, and alarmingly believable, Home is an unforgettable story about identity, family, and the terrifying dynamics of a cult' Carole Johnstone, author of Mirrorland

'Home is a white-hot gem of a book; brilliantly researched, so gripping and propulsive you’ll want to consume it in one go, but also glowingly, humanly real' Kirstin Innes, author of Scabby Queen Someone has broken into Zoe’s flat. A man she thought she’d never have to see again. They call him the Hand of God.

He knows about her job in the cafe, her life in Dublin, her ex-girlfriend, even the knife she’s hidden under the mattress. She thought she’d left him far behind, along with the cult of the Children and their isolated compound Home – but now he’s found her, and Zoe realises she must go back with him if she's to rescue the sister who helped her escape originally. But returning to Home means going back to the enforced worship and strict gender roles Zoe has long since moved beyond; back to the abuse and indoctrination she’s fought desperately to overcome... Going back will make her question everything she believed about her past – but could also risk her hard-won freedom. Can she break free a second time?

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Doors: 6.30pm, event starts: 7pm

Tickets cost £3, and there is a Ticket & Book option which includes a signed copy of The Things We Do To Our Friends or Home, or both.

The bookshop has level access, events are seated and speakers use microphones. If you have any concerns about accessibility, please do get in touch and we will do our best to accommodate your needs.

Please do not attend the event if you are displaying any symptoms of Covid-19 or if you have been advised to self isolate. For more information or if you would like a signed copy because you can't make it to the event, please contact the Blackwell's events team on 0131 622 8222 or [email protected]

Host or Publisher Blackwell Bookshop Edinburgh, South Bridge