Jane Eyre: An Autobiography
2025-10-13 00:00 - 2025-10-15 23:59 (Europe/London) | Ustinov Studio, 1 Saw Close, Bath, BANES, BA1 1EY, United Kingdom
In the face of the isolation and abandonment of a loveless childhood, Jane Eyre refuses to bend to the will of her abusers. But does she achieve the independence and equality that she craves, and does her resistance change anything?

Hailed as a “brilliantly engaging piece of drama” and “a theatrical tour de force”, Live Wire and Roughhouse Theatres’ inventive exploration of the status of women in society make this critically acclaimed dramatisation as relevant today as Charlotte Bronte’s original novel was 178 years ago.

“Here is a company of technical brilliance, with a rare gift for bringing classics to life with loyalty, energy and intrigue.” Female Arts

“This is the way to introduce recalcitrant students of literature to the classics and in particular the Victorian novel.” British Theatre Guide

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An Evening with the Boy, the Mole, the Fox & the Horse's Charlie Mackesy
2025-10-14 18:30 - 20:30 | Bath Pavilion, N Parade Rd, Bathwick, Bath, BA2 4EU
‘A wonderful work of art and a wonderful window into the human heart.’ Richard Curtis

Toppings Bath are over the moon to welcome British artist, illustrator and author of the the globally loved The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, Charlie Mackesy.

Always Remember: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse and the Storm is the hugely anticipated new book that revisits Charlie Mackesy’s four unlikely friends who are wandering through the wilds again. They’re not sure what they are looking for. They do know that life can be difficult, but that they love each other, and cake is often the answer. When the dark clouds come, can the boy remember what he needs to get through the storm?

‘One day you’ll look back and realise how hard it was, and just how well you did’

Charlie Mackesy began his career as a cartoonist, before becoming a book illustrator for Oxford University Press.

His award-winning work has been featured in books, galleries, school classrooms, hospital wards, prisons and public spaces around the world.

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse has now reached over 10 million readers around the world. It is a Sunday Times Non-Fiction Bestseller and a number one New York Times bestseller. In 2023, Charlie co-wrote and directed the short animated film adaption, which won the BAFTA Award for Best British Film.

Charlie worked with Richard Curtis on the set of ‘Love Actually’ to create a set of drawings for Comic Relief, and with Nelson Mandela on a lithograph project, The Unity Series. His bronzes can be found in public spaces in London, including Highgate Cemetery and the Brompton Road. Away from art, Charlie co-runs Mama Buci, a honey social enterprise in Zambia that helps families of low and no income become beekeepers. He lives between Brixton and Suffolk.

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Wendy Erskine for The Benefactors
2025-10-14 18:30 - 21:00 | Topping & Company Booksellers of Bath, York Street, Bath, BA1 1NG, United Kingdom
AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVEL 2025

‘I couldn’t put this book down’ – Sheena Patel, author of I’m a Fan

‘This is powerful, masterful storytelling by one of the most exciting writers at work today’ – Colin Walsh, author of Kala

‘Perfectly pitched, surefooted, and charged with feeling’ – Colin Barrett, author of Wild Houses

‘What a beautiful, hilarious blast of brilliance’ – Donal Ryan, author of Heart, Be at Peace

From the prize-winning author of Dance Move and Sweet Home, this is an astounding novel about intimate histories, class and money – and what being a parent means.

Meet Frankie, Miriam and Bronagh: three very different women from Belfast, but all mothers to 18-year-old boys.

Gorgeous Frankie, now married to a wealthy, older man, grew up in care. Miriam has recently lost her beloved husband Kahlil in ambiguous circumstances. Bronagh, the CEO of a children’s services charity, loves celebrity and prestige. When their sons are accused of sexually assaulting a friend, Misty Johnston, they’ll come together to protect their children, leveraging all the powers they possess. But on her side, Misty has the formidable matriarch, Nan D, and her father, taxi-driver Boogie: an alliance not so easily dismissed.

Brutal, tender and rigorously intelligent, The Benefactors is a daring, polyphonic presentation of modern-day Northern Ireland. It is also very funny.

Wendy Erskine is the author of two short story collections, Sweet Home and Dance Move. She was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize and the Republic of Consciousness Prize, longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award, and she received the Butler Literary Award and the Edge Hill Readers’ Choice Award. She edited the art anthology well I just kind of like it. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, she is a frequent broadcaster and interviewer, and works as a secondary school teacher in Belfast. The Benefactors is her debut novel.

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Folklore: A Journey Through the Past and Present
2025-10-14 18:30 - 21:00 | Topping & Company Booksellers of Bath, York Street, Bath, BA1 1NG, United Kingdom
‘This book draws a cultural map of who we are, where we’ve come from and how we think and feel about our surroundings. Meticulously researched, imaginative in scope and rich in strange stories and rewarding insights. Fascinating reading.’Malcolm Gaskill, author of The Ruin of All Witches

A gripping guide to the weird yet everyday world of British folklore.

In this ground-breaking book, two leading experts provide the definitive guide to British folklore past and present.

Owen Davies and Ceri Houlbrook explore folklore in all its remarkable variations, from village rituals and fairy tales to UFO legends and internet fanfiction. Travelling through a landscape of witches, wizards and wicker men, they reveal how folklore has been researched and written about in the past and show how it continues to be lived in the present. At the same time, they provide the reader with a valuable toolkit for understanding how to interpret the diverse examples given.

The book’s key message is that folklore is much more than the fossilised remains of a distant, rural past. Folklore is and always has been ubiquitous, dynamic and political. It is a living tradition that draws from many sources, including migrant communities, and is forever being renewed and updated.

‘Folklore is a hidden superpower in every part of our land and our culture. The stories we tell let us know who, where and what we are, and here they can be found in their richness and complexity. I learned from every page.’Diane Purkiss, author of English Food: A Social History of England Told through the Food on Its Tables

Owen Davies is Professor of Social History at the University of Hertfordshire. He is the author of numerous books, most recently Art of Grimoire and Troubled by Faith: Insanity and the Supernatural in the Age of the Asylum (both 2023). He has been described as Britain’s foremost academic expert on the history of magic.

Ceri Houlbrook is Senior Lecturer in Folklore and History at the University of Hertfordshire. Her books include The Magic of Coin-Trees (2018), Unlocking the Love-Lock (2021) and Ritual ‘Litter’ Redressed (2022). In addition to her scholarly work, she writes folklore-inspired fiction.

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