BOOKMARK Book Festival
Perthshire's Book Festival
News
Richard Blake and Magnus Linklater
BOOKMARK’s final event of 2023 took place on a beautiful sunny day in St Catherine’s, Blairgowrie, and was a fitting finale to our year.
Richard Blake discussed his book Sugar, Slaves and High Society in an enthralling interview with Magnus Linklater. Magnus led the discussion through a detailed and engrossing tale of the Grant family from their Scottish roots, following their journeys to Nova Scotia and Jamaica and Sarawak, to fortunes quickly made and equally quickly lost. Richard’s depth of knowledge not only of the family, but also of all the events of the time which shaped and affected the Grants and all their extended families, was a joy to listen to. Topics ranged from Renaissance masterpieces, judicious marriages and troubled histories and we were all treated to a fascinating hour’s event.
After a break for afternoon tea, and a raffle of a selection of books from this year’s Festival, our attention turned from 18th and 19th centuries to the troubles of the 21st century in Ukraine.
Magnus had spent time there recently and was eloquent in his account of what he had witnessed, who he had spoken to and what had affected him in Ukraine today. Above all he praised the resilience of all those who living and working there under the threat of war, and in particular those who have risked their lives to fight, many now living with catastrophic injuries. He was joined by David Fox-Pitt who continued the discussion detailing the work of the charity Siobhan’s Trust, who are embedded in Ukraine, and their co-charity T&SH Ukraine who carry out work from Errol supporting refugees and collecting much needed supplies to take out.
All of us who had the privilege to listen to Richard, Magnus and David agreed that this afternoon was one of BOOKMARK’s highlights.
BOOKMARK thanks all our speakers and our generous, packed audience who raised over £400 for Ukraine that afternoon. We look forward to welcoming you back to BOOKMARK in 2024.
If you would like to become a member of BOOKMARK for only £10 a year, click here
If you would like to buy a copy of Richard’s book, please visit Adventure into Books in the Wellmeadow, or email them at info@adventureintobooks.co.uk
If you would like to support Siobhan’s Trust visit Siobhan's Trust
And you can donate items to T&SH at Mitchell’s newsagent, Blairgowrie
Gail Wylie
BOOKMARK Chair
To view Kate Davies' Book Recommendations for November, please click here
Background:
BOOKMARK established in 2012, has developed a reputation for being a friendly, well organised Book Festival which offers a wide range of events to suit all interests.
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