Lights! Camera! Action!

Step back in time with children’s book author Susan Brownrigg and discover how real life people, places and stories inspire her 1930s Blackpool-set Gracie Fairshaw mystery series.

Susan’s new book – Gracie Fairshaw and the Missing Reel (published on World Book Day/Thursday March 7th 2024) was influenced by the fact that Britain – including the North West of England – in the 1930s tried to rival Hollywood.

Susan will explain how two real women – Zetta Morenta/Lilian Tollis a stuntwoman and body-double and Rochdale superstar actress and singer Gracie Fields – were the spark which prompted her third Gracie book. She will also explain why cinema was a welcome escape for working class folk. Children will be able to see original film magazines, have a sniff of seaside smell cubes and handle props including trying a director’s megaphone, vintage film and reels and a clapperboard.

40 minute talk with reading PLUS 20 minute Q&A.