Children of Paradise – Camilla Grudova in conversation with Naomi Frisby at Blackwell's Bookshop
Children of Paradise – Camilla Grudova in conversation with Naomi Frisby
Blackwell’s Bookshop
12th July 2022
Prices from £3.00 to £14.99
- Wheelchair Accessible
Blackwell’s Bookshop are thrilled to be hosting the Manchester launch of Camilla Grudova’s Children of Paradise – a surreal, discomforting debut novel charting the fates of a ragtag group of cinema workers who are spat out by corporate takeover. Camilla will be in conversation with host Naomi Frisby.
About the book
When Holly applies for a job at the Paradise – one of the city’s oldest cinemas, squashed into the ground floor of a block of flats – she thinks it will be like any other shift work. She cleans toilets, sweeps popcorn, avoids the belligerent old owner, Iris, and is ignored by her aloof but tight-knit colleagues who seem as much a part of the building as its fraying carpets and endless dirt. Dreadful, lonely weeks pass while she longs for their approval, a silent voyeur. So when she finally gains the trust of this cryptic band of oddballs, Holly transforms from silent drudge to rebellious insider and gradually she too becomes part of the Paradise – unearthing its secrets, learning its history and haunting its corridors after hours with the other ushers. It is no surprise when violence strikes, tempers change and the group, eyes still affixed to the screen, starts to rapidly go awry…
About the author
Camilla Grudova lives in Edinburgh where she works as an usherette. She holds a degree in Art History and German from McGill University, Montreal. Her fiction has appeared in The White Review and Granta. Her critically acclaimed debut collection, The Doll’s Alphabet, was published in 2017 by Fitzcarraldo Editions.. This is her first novel.
Doors: 18.30, event starts: 18.45
Tickets are £3.00 or free when pre-ordering a copy of the book. Children of Paradise will also be available to purchase on the night and Camilla will be signing copies after the talk. If you would like a signed copy but cannot make the event, please contact Blackwell’s Bookshop on 0161 274 3331 or manchester@blackwell.co.uk and they can arrange this for you.
