Jean Sprackland wasn't stranded in Formby

Jean Sprackland is slowly but steadily becoming a household name


She was hailed as a born wordsmith by her creative writing coach in her early days and went on to reach exalted heights winning the Prestigious 'Costa Prize' for her second collection of Poetry 'Tilt' in 2007 and her first collection 'Hard Water' was accoladed by the Poetry Society too.


She then took nearly three years to develop and perfect her first 'non fiction' book
'Strands: A Year of Discoveries on the Beach'

What makes this book so special not just for us in the NW, but for any reader is the pure descriptive magic Jean weaves with her words. She is such a pure talent and will in time be recognised alongside writers such as Richard Fortey and Kathleen Jamie (Sightlines).

Jean takes you with her journeys of discovery and is so eloquent and fluent in her narratives that you smell the salty sea air and feel the breeze as you read. She is quite profound and extremely knowledgeable, blending history, science, nature and links with other writing in a prosaic way. Even for those used to fast paced thrillers there is beauty to be read in Jean's 'Strands'. Take a relaxed read on the NW Coast.




She was the June 2012 Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4 and we were inundated with requests for the book and sold out literally twice. Then folks were so excited to be told she could actually visit Formby and would read from the book, discuss her ideas and take questions, now all we needed was the weather!


After the wettest June on record we weren't optimistic that too many would venture out if it continued to be like a swimming pool outside the shop as was the case on the day before her visit. Poor Steve Cole had to drive from us to Oxford at about 10 miles an hour after his trip.

But the weather was superb and so was the crowd

Mark Rawsthorne is the brother of Sefton Super Reads winner Paula and was first in the queue,
 partly as his daughter would have been bored at the back of the queue

Beth with Ron Davies the stunning 'Iron Men' photographer from Crosby and two fans who had I think heard about the event from either the radio or the Guardian where we featured!

Beth and Vicky my deputy manager

everyone asked her interesting questions too!

And if it works there is now a video of Jean
telling us some background about her book