Thursday 9th July 2026, 6pm in person event (finished by 7-7.30pm)

Meet the Main Characters: Author Bobby Palmer in conversation with author Kate Sawyer

Clara and Seb are about to fall in love.
They don’t know it yet.
But everybody else does.

When Clara and Seb meet in a quiet corner of London, it’s the start of something. She wants to be a Director. He’s an actor, unsure what he wants from life. Their connection is magnetic. Everyone can see that falling in love looks something like this. But when Clara casts Seb in the film that will make her name, what should be the happiest time of their lives ends with a gut-wrenching betrayal.

Some love stories are bigger than just two people. This one is told through the eyes of friends, flatmates, exes and strangers who see all the sides of Seb and Clara, from their first date to the moment they fell apart. Everyone has their version of events. But only Clara and Seb can decide how their story ends…This is a love story, told by everyone but the main characters.

‘Unique, tender and funny’ Pandora Sykes

Bobby Palmer is both an author and journalist. His critically acclaimed debut novel, Isaac and the Egg, was a Waterstones Paperback of the Year in 2022; his second novel Small Hours was published in 2024. Bobby co- hosts the podcast Book Chat with Pandora Sykes and his writing has appeared in GQ, Esquire, Men’s Health, Cosmopolitan amongst others.

Kate Sawyer friend and favourite of Red Lion Books. Kate worked as an actor and producer, and wrote several short films before turning her hand to fiction. She is the author of three novels: Getting Away, Waterstones Fiction Book of The Month, This Family, and her debut novel, The Stranding, which was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award, won the East Anglian fiction prize, was adapted for BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime and is being developed for the screen by Fremantle and Afua Hirsch’s production company Born In Me. When Kate isn’t writing, or talking to other authors about their writing practices for her podcast Novel Experience and as a chair for author events, she works as the Programme Curator for the annual Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival.