Details

Glastonbury-born novelist and playwright Nell Leyshon (The Farm, Comfort Me With Apples, Black Dirt and the recent Globe Theatre hit Bedlam) has just published her third novel, THE COLOUR OF MILK, which has been capturing the imagination of the national press, and an ever wider circle of readers. Nell's moving, gripping new story is set in 1830s mid Somerset, and, like most of her novels and plays, draws on the lives of women in local farming families. 14-year-old Mary, a farmer's daughter with hair the colour of milk, lives a life of considerable hardship on the family farm until her father sends her to work for the Vicar, whose wife is poorly and in need of care. There she learns about the better things in life, about pillows and drawing rooms, and begins to read and write. The novel is written in her own hand, with rudimentary punctuation, but with her compelling voice shining through her lack of education. Her reason for telling her own story becomes more and more urgent as we begin to understand that her troubles are far from over. Nell will be at Strode Theatre for a reading, Q&A session and book signing.

Cast/Performers

Nell Leyshon