Bestselling author Xinran is coming to Thursday Book Club

Hope you've all been well over the past few weeks. I've been ensconced in a writing deadline and have been burying myself away to get it finished. It's good to be back!

The Chinese-English writer, Xinran, shot to fame with her book, The Good Women Of China, a collection of stories told to Xinran in secret. A former journalist and popular radio presenter in China, Xinran has lived in London since 1997. Her newly released work, The Book Of Secrets, is a fascinating account of one man's life in China from war, occupation and the emergence of the Chinese Communist Party.  Xinran has been part of the Thursday Book Club community from its inception and I am delighted to welcome her as my guest on Thursday Book Club next week.  To join us, simply zoom in at 8pm on Thursday 25 July by clicking here. 

Rachel Lea, also a member of the Thursday Book Club community, has written LUPUS = Lifting Up, Persevere and Use Strength, a book about living with chronic illness. Rachel gives us her insights into this in her piece Snakes and Ladders and Lupus and Me.

There's some good news for two other members of our Thurrsday Book Club community:

* Julia Levitina, whose novel The Girl From Moscow  was released in February, has now been shortlisted in the 20th century category of the UK Historical Novel Society’s awards for her novel-in-progress Beyond The Pale.

* Elizabeth Walton's short story Casino has been longlisted for the Furphy Literary Award.

Congratulations to you both!