Louise Doughty, A Bird in Winter

Hear Sunday Times bestselling writer Louise Doughty, author of Apple Tree Yard and Platform Seven, discuss her electrifying new novel, A Bird in Winter.

Bird is a woman on the run. One minute, she’s in a meeting in her office – the next, she’s walking out on her job, her home, her life. It’s a day she thought might come, and one she’s prepared for. As she flees north, Bird has to work out who exactly is on her trail, and who – if anyone – she can trust. Is her greatest fear that she will be hunted down, or that she will never be found?

This event will include an audience Q&A. After the event there will be an opportunity to get your book signed by the author.

Friday 14 June, 7.00PM

Venue: Basildon Library, Basildon Centre, St Martin’s Square, Basildon, SS14 1EE
Tickets: £8 / £7 concessions (Students, Under 27s and Unwaged)
Box Office: essexbookfestival.org.uk or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948

A Bird in Winter featured on the Zoe Ball Radio 2 Book Club – find out more at reading groups.org.

A Bird in Winter by Louise Doughty

Published 31 August 2023

From the author of the bestselling Apple Tree Yard comes a riveting thriller of a woman on the run from both sinister pursuers and the ghosts of her past.

Bird is a woman on the run. One minute, she’s in a meeting in her office in Birmingham – the next, she’s walking out on her job, her home, her life. It’s a day she thought might come, and one she’s prepared for – but nothing could prepare her for what will happen next.

As she flees north using multiple disguises, Bird has to work out who exactly is on her trail, and who – if anyone – she can trust. Like many people, she has fantasised about escape for a long time, but now it’s actually happening.

Is her greatest fear that she will be hunted down, or that she will never be found?

‘At the heart of this nail-bitingly tense and compelling spy novel is a lonely and haunted protagonist who stays in the mind long after the final page has turned.’ – Paula Hawkins

‘Clever, twisty and propulsive.’ – Claire Fuller

About the Author

Louise Doughty’s novels include Platform Seven, recently filmed for a major new ITV series; Black Water a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; the bestseller Apple Tree Yard, which was adapted for BBC One; and Whatever You Love, nominated for the Costa Novel Award and the Women’s Prize for fiction. She has been nominated for many other prizes including the Sunday Times Short Story Prize and the CWA Silver Dagger, along with creating and writing the hit BBC drama Crossfire. Her work has been translated into thirty languages. She lives in London.

Photo of Louise Doughty © Max Kennedy