Dear friends,

I was away last week on a short break in the Shropshire Hills - such a beautiful part of the country. Alex and I did our first ever house sit and cat-sit, with added chickens! It’s made me a little behind on emailing, so I have THREE bits of news for you today:

A small change to our starting date

I've had a bit of health stuff going on lately, so I'm pushing the start of our next chapter back by one week. We'll now begin on Thursday 15th October, 12:30pm-2pm (London time). I'd rather give myself a bit of breathing room now so I can show up properly for all of us, and I hope the extra week gives you a little more time to get hold of the books too.

Our second book

Alongside Glorious Exploits, we'll be reading The Sentence by Louise Erdrich.

We move from ancient Sicily to present-day Minneapolis, where we meet Tookie, an Indigenous woman who survived a harrowing prison term by reading "with murderous attention". Now she works at Birchbark Books, an independent bookshop that champions Indigenous history, writing and community voices, and which is haunted by the ghost of its most annoying customer. As the COVID-19 pandemic closes the shop's doors and George Floyd is murdered by police a few streets away, the bookshop becomes a real sanctuary for Tookie and the people around her.

Glorious Exploits asks quite a lot of the reader. The Sentence holds you a bit closer while still dealing with substantial questions. It's a novel full of love for books, bookshops and the people who gather around them, and it explores how books keep us company through hard times, helping us survive, resist and stay connected to each other.

You can read the full announcement on The Portal, where I've been asking what you notice about how these two books might speak to each other. Nobody's read either yet, so there's no wrong answer, just instinct and curiosity. I'd love to hear your thoughts, there or by replying to this email.

Registration is now open

You can now sign up for the October/November chapter through the Fiction for the Frontlines collection on The Portal. Standard pricing is £15 per month, with solidarity and supporter rates also available (£10/£25). I do not want financial difficulties to prevent anyone from joining so, if you need a free spot, please email me.

And finally..

..if you know someone who'd enjoy these books and the conversations they'll bring, please pass this on. They can sign up for updates at fictionforthefrontlines.uk/subscribe or email me at hello@fictionforthefrontlines.uk.

Find out more about the philosophy behind Fiction for the Frontlines with my gorgeous free resource. You could call it an introduction, you could call it a manifesto, you could call it the pouring out of my heart into what I hope to build here.

Thank you, as always, for your patience and kindness. I hope to see you on the 15th October. Until then, keep reading, resting and resisting.

Amanda
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