One book … three events …….. and a heap of history

 The story of John and Enriqueta Rylands is one that I am not really familiar with, other than that the couple lived in Longford Hall and on his death his wife commissioned and built that magnificent library on Deansgate.

Longford House, 1914

So, I have fallen on Juliette Tomlinson’s debut novel, "Longford", which charts the lives of Enriqueta and John before they met and takes the reader on that journey that eventually saw the two of them married.*

It is the first of a trilogy which will span the decades from 1864 into the twentieth century and on the way offers up glimpses into the lives of the two, set against provincial France and Manchester, with of course sideways looks at Longford Hall, Stretford and other bits of south Manchester.

The book came out on September 1^st and already there are three opportunities during the month to meet the author and hear about her passion for Enriqueta, how she came to write the book and her plans for the two subsequent books.

The official launch will be in the Horse and Jockey that ancient pub on Chorlton Green on September 19^th at 7pm.

I have no idea whether John and Enriqueta visited the place which first opened its doors to paying customers in the 1790s in a building which was already into its second decade when Henry VIII walked down the aisle with Anne Boleyn.

The book signing, 2024

But I bet some of the individuals who walk across the pages of the book will have been familiar with the Holland family who ran the pub from the 1840s into the 1890s.

And after the launch Ms Tomlinson will be at Waterstones in Oldham for the official book signing event from 1pm till 3 on Saturday September 21^st.

The novel, 2024

Leaving just an appearance at our own Chorlton Book Festival at the Edge Theatre on Manchester Road on September 27^th between 2 and 4 pm.**

That said I know there are other events including one at the Portico and no doubt more will follow as local organizations get to hear of the publication of Longford.

Like all of us who write, I know that the story of John and Enrique has occupied a big chunk of Juliette’s time so much so that last month the family holidayed in the town of Beziers in southern France which is where her novel begins.

Added to which she lives in Stretford, yards from Longford Park, which was a part of her childhood.

 At which point I could include the opening lines of the novel, but I won’t  ….. the book costs £9.99 and is available from Chorlton Book shop, Waterstones, and The Squeeze Press.***

Location; France, Manchester and of course Longford Hall

Pictures; Longford Park and Lake 1914 from the series Longford Park, issued by Tuck and Sons, courtesy of Tuck DB, http://tuckdb.org/, book launch advert, courtesy of Waterstones, and cover of Longford, by permission of the author.

Longford Park and lake, 1914

*Longford, A Manchester love story, Juliette Tomlinson, 2024, The Squeeze Press

**Chorlton Book Festival, All events are bookable through Chorlton Book Festival, https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/chorlton-book-festival-2024-3536319

*** The Squeeze Press, www.woodenbooks.com