Lawrence Norfolk, John Saturnall's Feast

Talking Leaves…Books is pleased to partner with the Exhibit X reading series and Hallwalls to host a reading and book signing with acclaimed British novelist Lawrence Norfolk, whose beautifully produced and written new novel John Saturnall’s Feast (Grove Press), has just been issued. The event will take place in the Cinema at Hallwalls, 341 Delaware Avenue, on Tuesday October 2nd at 7 pm. There is no admission charge. Those interested in having a copy of any of the author’s books autographed are expected to purchase them from Talking Leaves, as an act of respect and support for the author, the publisher, and the bookstore hosting the event.

A beautiful, rich, and sensuous historical novel, John Saturnall’s Feast tells the story of a young orphan who becomes a kitchen boy at a manor house and rises through the ranks to become the greatest cook of his generation. It is a story of food, star-crossed lovers, ancient myths, and one boy’s rise from outcast to hero.

It is the early-seventeenth century and John Saturnall is a young boy growing up in the village of Buckland. He is bullied by other children, who claim that his mother is a witch. When many of the children in the village become sick, John’s mother is blamed, and she and her son are chased out of the village. They move to a forest, where it is said a witch called Buccla once grew a legendary garden. Giving what little she can forage to her son, John’s mother soon dies of starvation, but sees to it that John is taken in at the Buckland Manor house, where he begins working in the kitchen.

At the manor, John’s keen palate and natural cooking ability allow him to quickly rise from kitchen boy to cook. However, he soon gets on the wrong side of Lady Lucretia, the aristocratic daughter of the lord of the manor. In order to inherit the estate, Lucretia must wed, but her fiancé is an arrogant buffoon whose face Lucretia thinks resembles a water parsnip. When Lucretia takes a vow of fasting until her father calls off her engagement, it falls on John to try to cook her delicious food that might tempt her to break her fast. As John serves meals to Lucretia, an illicit attraction grows between the pair, but fate is conspiring against them. Lucretia’s betrothal cannot be undone, and soon the household is thrown into chaos as Cromwell’s Roundheads go to war with the loyalist Cavaliers and the English Civil War begins.

Reminiscent of Wolf Hall, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, and works by David Mitchell and Peter Carey, while in a clear line of descent for the great early inventors of the novel—Defoe and Sterne, Smollett, Fielding and Richardson--John Saturnall’s Feast is a brilliant work by a writer at the top of his powers, and a delight for all the senses.

Lawrence Norfolk is the author of four historical novels which have been translated into twenty-four languages, and won or been shortlisted for many international literary awards. His journalism and commentary have appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines, and he is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4. He lives in London with his wife and children.

About Exhibit X:

The Exhibit X Fiction Series showcases experimental and innovative fictions: from new novels to anti-novels, from criti-fictions to cross-genre writing, from hypermedia to the avant-pop…to whatever comes next, whatever that may be—fictions that, as yet, have no name.

Exhibit X presents new fictions in any shape they compose themselves—lends their authors the stage a few nights a year—with the aim of challenging our campus and community audiences to join in the narrative exploration: to reconsider how stories have been told and how they can be told, the boundaries that innovative prose resists.

The Exhibit X Fiction Series is committed to presenting the innovative fictions that are all around us and yet stand apart. Fictions that dare us, challenge us, define us.

Talking Leaves...Books has long been a supporter and purveyor of experimental and innovative writing and writers, and is pleased to partner with Exhibit X to introduce writers to the Buffalo literary community, in conjunction with Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, in its comfortable, inviting Cinema.