Now in its 13th year, the aim of Big Town Read is to encourage non-festival goers to the festival by inviting them to read the same book and come armed with questions for the author. Judging by the size of the audience at Marlborough’s Town Hall this afternoon, many residents took up the challenge, joining Susan Fletcher to discuss her novel The Night in Question.
For those who haven’t been part of the Big Read this year, meet Florrie Butterfield. She’s 87, in a wheelchair, and feels that her exciting days are behind her. That is until one summer night when something unexpected happens, setting her off on a journey of discovery. With only a discarded magenta envelope as a clue, Florrie not only discovers that she could be living alongside a would-be murderer but also, by reflecting back on her own life and the people she’s loved and lost, a secret of her own long buried.
With questions from the Chair and audience to guide her, Susan offered a real insight into the inspiration for her novel (a close friend and her grandmother), the challenge of weaving together two separate storylines, her writing routine (she doesn’t really have one), her favourite characters (all of them), themes of friendship, survival, finding the extraordinary in the ordinary, cheese, parcels of love, and much more.
With well over half the audience having read the book in advance, it was a real treat to have Susan provide us with so much background information as to how the book came about and developed in such an articulate and passionate way.
‘The Night in Question’ by Susan Fletcher, published by Transworld
LitFest ’25: Sam Dalrymple – ‘Shattered Lands’
