Before Reese Witherspoon and Zoella’s Book Clubs, there was Oprah Winfrey and Richard and Judy. And before them, there was Hugh Walpole and the Book Society (1929-68). For nearly forty years, the Book Society sent out one book a month to their members, sharing many now-famous titles that would go on to become bestsellers (Rebecca, Brideshead Revisited, The Kon-Tiki Expedition, To Kill a Mocking Bird...) This author talk will examine the little-known story behind Britain’s first celebrity book club and the judges who changed how we read.
 
Dr Nicola Wilson is Associate Professor of Book and Publishing Studies at the University of Reading, co-director of the Centre for Book Cultures and Publishing, and a founding director of the Modernist Archives Publishing Project. She lives in Pershore, and this is her second book.