New Lanark author returns for book festival

On Saturday she will speak about what she found out about the area while researching her trilogy.

New Lanark: Spinning New Lives and New Lanark: Living with a Visionary, and New Lanark: In Search of Utopia.

Her talk will be about “Telling The Story” of the mill village and the whole Clydesdale area of the 18th Century through historical novels.

“Local big houses which are now in ruins or completely destroyed, like Bonnington and Braxfield, are brought to life in my novels and I will be telling how I go about researching their heyday,” she said.

She found the research fascinating, and added: “My talk should have lots to interest local folk.”

Other well-known Lanark landmarks did not even exist during mill owner David Dale’s time in New Lanark, but one is constant: the Falls of Clyde, literally the power which gave rise to the New Lanark Mills, also feature in her talk.

CA Hope worked with the Scottish Wildlife Trust in the villager before her writing career took off, and she hopes the festival will be a success, bringing the sort of increase in visitors enjoyed by Hay on Wye during its book festival, keeping guest houses and restaurants busy.

And she is looking forward to it personally. “This is my first book festival and it is very exciting,” she said.

Her talk is on Saturday, October 3, from 11.15am-12.15pm and she is followed by author David McLaren speaking on David Dale.

New Lanark is welcoming over 20 well-known authors, including Christopher Brookmyre, Alistair Moffat and James Robertson, to speak at the four-day festival.

It runs on Thursday and Friday evenings, and throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday, with ticket options including a 4-day pass and individual author session tickets. The full programme is at www.newlanark.org. Tickets may also be available on the door.