Camilla Grudova | 14th July @7pm

Join us to celebrate the release of Children of Paradise by Camilla Grudova. 

When Holly applies for a job at the Paradise - one of the city's oldest cinemas, squashed into the ground floor of a block of flats - she thinks it will be like any other shift work. She cleans toilets, sweeps popcorn, avoids the belligerent old owner, Iris, and is ignored by her aloof but tight-knit colleagues who seem as much a part of the building as its fraying carpets and endless dirt. Dreadful, lonely weeks pass while she longs for their approval, a silent voyeur.

So when she finally gains the trust of this cryptic band of oddballs, Holly transforms from silent drudge to rebellious insider and gradually she too becomes part of the Paradise - unearthing its secrets, learning its history and haunting its corridors after hours with the other ushers. It is no surprise when violence strikes, tempers change and the group, eyes still affixed to the screen, starts to rapidly go awry...

Camilla lives in Edinburgh where she works as an usherette. She holds a degree in Art History and German from McGill University, Montreal. Her fiction has appeared in The White Review and Granta. Her critically acclaimed debut collection, The Doll's Alphabet, was published in 2017 by Fitzcarraldo Editions.. This is her first novel.

Camilla will be joined in conversation with Heather Parry, a Glasgow-based writer, editor, event chair and podcast host. Her short stories have appeared internationally in numerous magazines and books. Her fiction explores self-deception, transformation, the grotesque and the body. She is the co-founder of Scottish literary magazine Extra Teeth

As always tickets will be free but you can really help out the bookshop by pre-ordering the book here so we know how many to order.

Please note that given the rising rates of Covid in Scotland we ask that attendees perform a lateral flow test before attending and wear a mask throughout the event unless exempt. 

Fluent and transporting... utterly enthralling' - TLS

'One of Britain's best young short story writers... eerie... festers in glorious style... there's nothing vanilla in the dark of the Paradise, and even when the corporate takeover comes, complete with managerial drone, it all feels smooth and unearthly - an allegory for lost stories, youth and time.' - The Telegraph