Readers’ Day is a regular, and extremely popular feature of the Festival and this autumn we will be bringing the very best new reads to West Horsley Place.

The day takes the format of a mini festival in a day with five authors, including debut fiction writers and established novelists, talking about their lives, their inspirations and their latest projects. There is also an opportunity to meet the authors and have books signed.

We’re pleased to give you more choice and are offering two tickets, one enabling you to bring your own lunch and one with a light lunch provided.

Both options include a Goody Bag, and the venue offers free parking on site and a coffee van with hot drinks and tasty snacks in the courtyard.

Hosted by Patricia Nicol

Patricia Nicol is a regular book reviewer for The Sunday Times, and also writes a weekly audio column, reviewing radio and podcasts. She also writes the Best Books column for the Daily Mail.

She has interviewed many authors including Maggie O'Farrell, Elizabeth Strout, Zadie Smith, Curtis Sittenfeld, David Nicholls and Mick Herron.

She is the author of a topical non-fiction book, Sucking Eggs: What Your Wartime Granny Could Teach you about Diet, Thrift and Going Green.

Originally from Scotland, she now lives in south-east London with her husband and two sons, where she enjoys swimming at Charlton Lido.

Patricia is delighted to be back in Surrey, having attended St Catherine's, Bramley, and Godalming Sixth Form College.  

LILY SAMSON

Watch Me Watch You

A seductive and smart thriller following two women caught in a dangerous web of lies and deceit as one lends their flat to the other in a bid for quick cash. Watch Me Watch You comments on wealth, power, and what the pursuit of both drives people to do.

Jane Hawking 

The Fiery Pillars of War

The Fiery Pillars of War takes the reader across the battle fronts in Europe and beyond, where innovations in armaments put entire populations at risk, their reach extending to London and much of the rest of the country, highlighting the brutality of the war on the battlefield, on civilian populations and on prisoners of war.

Francesca Segal

Welcome to the Glorious Tuga

Zoologist Charlotte Walker has swapped her grey life in London for a year in this tropical paradise.  Officially, she’s there for conservation but the reality is far more complicated.  For somewhere on Tuga lies the answer to a truth she’s waited her whole life to learn. If she finds it, then perhaps she might finally find herself too.

Joanne Rush 

Dancing on Knives

Laura, a Bosnian war survivor and Cambridge University librarian, has long tried to forget the horrors of her past. But when she and her husband Adam move to Serbia, disturbing memories start to emerge. Adam’s work as a British diplomat takes him on a mission to capture war criminal General Ratko Mladić, leaving Laura isolated in the very country that invaded her own.  

Milly Johnson

Same Time Next Week

Sky, Mel, Erin, Astrid, and Amanda are all at a crossroads, facing marriage breakdowns, complicated bereavements, caring responsibilities, and health struggles. They feel stuck, their ambitions squashed by other people’s needs and are unsure how to take the leap towards what they truly want. But over coffee and cookies and through laughter and tears, they find the confidence to take control of their lives.