Children’s Books
The Night Animals by Sarah-Ann Juckes. Illustrated by Sharon King-Chai.
Simon & Schuster paperback £7.99.
Sussex author Sarah-Ann Juckes’ debut children’s novel, The Hunt for the Nightingale, was a heart-wrenching yet gentle story about a bird-watching boy coming to terms with the loss of his sister. Her new book The Night Animals similarly deals with sensitive topics in a touching, compassionate way. Nora and her single mum, a paramedic, are doing Just Fine… except they’re not. Nora’s mum has PTSD, and Nora’s caring responsibilities are growing, day by day. The sudden reappearance of the ghostly, shimmering ‘night animals’ that Nora used to see when she was little, leads Nora and her new friend Kwame on the adventure of a lifetime. Can the magical fox, hare, raven & otter help Nora find strength needed to help her mum? A moving, hopeful story for readers aged 9-12.

The Rescue of Ravenwood by Natasha Farrant.
Faber paperback £7.99.
We loved both Natasha Farrant’s previous middle-grade books; the Costa-award-winning Voyage of the Sparrowhawk and The Children of Castle Rock both feature plucky, resourceful children who bravely stand up to authority and fight for what’s important to them -- without a magical portal or a talking animal in sight!
The Rescue of Ravenwood is the story of sort-of siblings Bea and Raffy, their blended family and the place they call home: Ravenwood, a crumbling country estate with its own cove, in the North of England. When Ravenwood comes under threat of demolition and redevelopment, Bea, Raffy and their new friend Noa spring into action to save the place they love, and its precious wildlife. Cue daring direct action protests, a thrilling train chase across Europe, and the appearance of long-lost relatives… plenty of thrills, spills and excitement!
A powerful ecological message and sensitive rendering of complex family dynamics, this novel is refreshingly modern yet reassuringly old-fashioned. For readers aged 9-12.

The marvellous writer/ illustrator Sophy Henn is a firm favourite at the Steyning Bookshop, she’s a proper all-rounder with a dazzling array of picture books, chapter books AND non-fiction to her name. Her LIFESIZE series of interactive, factual picture books are bursting with information and incredible illustrations, and now she’s turned her pen to everything … DEADLY!
From black caiman jaws, Burmese python, and a mysterious slow loris to sharks and much more, the book invites children to see how they measure up against the world’s deadliest animals. Features a surprise giant fold out creature! Perfect for curious minds from 4-9.

Adult Books
Confessions by Edward Stourton.
Hardback £20 Doubleday.
Steyning Festival regulars may recall veteran broadcaster Edward Stourton’s event at Wiston House a few years back when he spoke very engagingly about a little-known WW2 escape route, the Chemin de la Liberte.
Ed has now published his Confessions, a surprising, and searingly honest memoir of his life and journalistic career. It is an entertaining read, charting Edward’s journey from his privileged childhood – the son of wealthy ex-pats in Nigeria, through his education at Ampleforth and Cambridge University, and the thrills of his early career as a foreign correspondent, right through his years at the helm of Radio 4’s Today programme. Most interestingly, the book charts his ’awokening’ (as he calls it!), as he reflects, with humour and candour, on how the life he has led and the events that have shaped him have changed his view of the world.
Edward will be talking about CONFESSIONS at our event on Thursday February 9th.

Winchelsea by Alex Preston.
Canongate paperback £9.99
A ripping yarn of Sussex smugglers, awash with murder, treason, and high-seas skulduggery.
Winchelsea, 1742. Goody Brown, the adopted daughter of a herbalist and a physician/smuggler, finds herself entering the cutthroat world of smuggling after the murder of Ezekiel, her father. Along with her adoptive brother Francis (Winchelsea’s first dark-skinned resident, rescued from a slave ship) Goody is determined to seek out her father’s killers and bring them to justice. Facing high seas and desperate villains, she discovers what life can be like without the constraints or expectations of being a gentlewoman – and develops a taste for danger that makes her blood run fast!
The salty, imaginative language, patchwork narrative and modern-feeling characters add a contemporary feel to this cracking story – think ‘Moonfleet’ for 2023!

Wild Green Wonders: A Life in Nature by Patrick Barkham.
Guardian Faber £10.99.
From the tale of the mouse-eared bat, to that of peregrine falcons nesting by the Thames; from an encounter with Britain's last lion tamer, and the war of the red and grey squirrels, this collection of 20 years of Patrick Barkham’s articles for the Guardian is joyful, fascinating and enlightening.
Patrick Barkham is a wonderful storyteller, one of our favourite nature writers and all-round nice person, and this is a lovely collection of some of his best writing.