Preston author Jenn Ashworth will be visting the Preston branch of Waterstones on 27 February to talk about and sign copies of her new book The Friday Gospels

Jenn, who was brought up a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, says she always wanted to write about what it felt like to be a Mormon.

Advertisements

Her new novel involves a Mormon family with secrets who wait for a golden-boy missionary son to return home and solve their problems while an ash-cloud gathers; disaster ensues and love conquers all.

“It’s Friday in the Leeke household, but this is no ordinary Friday: the Leekes are Lancastrian Mormons and tonight they will be welcoming back their son Gary from his two-year mission in Utah. His mother, Pauline, wants his homecoming to be perfect. Unfortunately, no one else seems to be following the script.

In turn, the members of the family let us into their private thoughts and plans. There’s teenage Jeannie, wrestling with a disastrous secret; her peculiar elder brother, Julian, who’s plotting an exit according to his own warped logic; their father, Martin, dreaming of escape; and ‘golden boy’ Gary, who dreads his return. Then there’s Pauline, who needs a doctor’s help but won’t ask for it.

As the day progresses, a meltdown looms. Except that nothing goes according to anyone’s plan, and the outcome is as unexpected as it is shocking. Laced with black humour and giving an unusual insight into the Mormon way of life, this is a superbly orchestrated and arresting tale of human folly and foibles and what counts in times of crisis.”

For more about Jenn and The Friday Gospels have a look at our previous post here

Date: 27 February
Time: 5.30pm
Venue: Waterstones
Tel: 01772 555766