When I was a child my favourite contemporary writer was, without a doubt, Penelope Lively. Many of her books dealt with ghosts or the supernatural, or played tricks with layers of time; I remember that I was glued to them and would very nearly have devoured them in one sitting if allowed! The Ghost of Thomas Kempe was actually set reading at school, but her other novels were even more thrilling to me. I particularly loved Astercote, with its creepy Black Death storyline, but the one that stuck in my mind most was the mysterious novel The Wild Hunt of Hagworthy. It fascinated me so much so that I’d even done a little research at the local library in Taunton – back in the old days before one could simply do an Internet search – into the possible folk legends that might have inspired it. Some years later, and quite by accident, I came across a postcard featuring a photograph of a late 19th century Abbots Bromley Horn Dancer and instantly recognised the masked figure with stag horns as being very like the mysterious dancers as I’d imagined them when reading Penelope Lively’s book.
Fast forward to the summer of 1988. I was a Reading University student but spending the summer in London. Again, quite by accident, I was strolling along Islington Upper Street and had stopped to look in a bookshop window when I noticed a poster advertising a Penelope Lively book signing event for the paperback release of her 1987 Booker Prize winning novel Moon Tiger. In fact – the book signing was happening there and then! I peered into the shop and sure enough, an elegant middle aged woman whom I presumed must be Penelope Lively was sitting at a little table and signing a book for somebody. So, this was my big chance to meet my favourite childhood author… and also ask her about the Wild Hunt of Hagworthy! And how warm and friendly she was as I gushed about how I’d loved her books; she told me how much she enjoyed meeting people who had read her books as children, and patiently answered my questions about a book she’d written years before!
So that’s the very personal tale of my first signed by author book. I’ve posted some scans below of the signed title page and front cover. If you have a book signing anecdote then feel free to post a comment below – I’d love to hear about it!
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I’m a bit behind the times with this comment but I’ve only just started reading The Wild Hunt of Hagworthy and I’ve been trying to figure out where (or if) it’s based on a real place.
Going by the description of Lucy’s journey in the first chapter I wondered whether it might be Selworthy, a few miles from Minehead, but it doesn’t fit in all respects.
So it’s a long shot, but I wondered whether it was one of the questions you asked Penelope when you met her!
Hi Martyn…I agree that Selworthy is a good fit location-wise. I don’t remember discussing it though…sorry…she did confirm that the Abbots Bromley Horn Dancers were one of the many inspirations. Such a great writer of fiction for children…I devoured her books!