Station Eleven book launch

If you follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads or know me in person, it can't have gone unnoticed that earlier this year I fell head over heels in love with a beautiful Shakespearean dystopian novel by the name of Station Eleven and written by the incredibly talented Emily St. John Mandel. I'm a proud member of #TeamStation11 and will tell people randomly in conversation that this is THE book of 2014 that they have to read (find my full review here).

So when the lovely Sam Eades from Pan Macmillan invited me to the launch of the novel in London (after already sending me a proof copy back in May AND a stunning finished hardback when it was published), I quickly cleared my diary as I knew this was one event I really wanted to attend.


The launch took place at Goldsboro Books (the shop known for its extensive collection of signed first-edition novels, a book-lover's simultaneous literary heaven and their wallet's worst nightmare) just between Covent Garden and Leicester Square in the city centre, which was a super handy location for me as it was only about a 15 minute leisurely walk from my office.

I met up with Laura from Laura's Little Book Blog outside and we ooh-ed and aah-ed over The Museum of Civilisation (a prominent feature in the Station Eleven novel) in the window display before heading inside. At first we thought we were once again unfashionably early, but luckily we soon discovered that a group of people had already gathered in the room next door, so we quickly joined them after grabbing a glass of wine. As, of course, few book events are complete without one.


The Station Eleven books were displayed all along the shelves and once again it became clear how incredibly stunning the cover design was. The black and white image with the popping pink really stood out and I shamelessly stroked a fair few covers on display while we were talking to Sam (who also gave me a Station Eleven badge created by @Leilah_Makes. I absolutely love it, and will pop it on one of my bookish totes soon. Thanks, Leilah!) about all things Station Eleven and thanking her profusely for the invite to the event (not to mention for sending the book out in the first place). She was lovely and it was a so nice to get a chance to chat to her!


Sam also kindly introduced us to the woman of the hour, Emily St. John Mandel, cue me gushing embarrassingly about her stunning novel. She was very sweet (and gracious) about it all though - and let me ramble for a little while until we moved onto theatre chat (cue me rambling some more, books and theatre are my two biggest obsessions after all, which is another reason why I fell in love with the theatrical Station Eleven) in case she would be able to fit in a West End show in her busy touring schedule.

When Emily was whisked away to meet other people at the party, Laura and I spent a little while admiring all the gorgeous first-editions on the shelves at Goldsboro Books - I know where I'll be splurging when I win the lottery! - and before we knew it it was time for some wonderful speeches from Picador editor Sophie Jonathan and of course Emily herself.


Afterwards Laura and I also got our books signed, which made for a lovely tangible memory of the wonderful evening (that and the beautiful Station Eleven bookmarks we swiped). Thanks so much Sam for the invite!