Truro Community Library

27/02/2025

27/02/2025

The adaptation of Beth O'Leary's novel The Road Trip hasn't had great reviews but her books are very good, much more than simple romcom chicklit. Marketing has a lot to answer for! They are fun, interesting and romantic, often with a clever twist.
And they are all on Borrowbox as audiobooks. Try The Flatshare, The No-Show or The Switch, winningly read by Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones.

https://cornwall.borrowbox.com/search?q=beth%20o%40leary&format=eAudiobooks
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/dec/26/the-road-trip-review-this-icky-romcom-by-numbers-is-oddly-romance-free

26/02/2025

The junior library may be closed, but you can still visit our temporary junior section while the new floor gets laid. There are many great books to enjoy there and the dolls house to play with.

26/02/2025

Two more books on the longlist for 2025 Winston Graham Historical Fiction Prize with themes of witchcraft.
Blue Hawk is a beautifully immersive novel set in the 17th-century.
After Joan's father drinks away the family’s money, she learns the difficult art of cloth-dying. But her profession stirs whispers of witchcraft, and her rivalry with her sister, Alice, deepens.
The King's Witches by Kate Foster is set mainly in Scotland in the reign of James V1, exploring the union of Denmark and Scotland though his marriage to the Danish princess Anna. In this gripping story of three women in different levels of class, paranoia and witch-catching mania abounds throughout the country.

https://cornwallmuseum.org/the-launch-of-the-2025.../

25/02/2025

𝐒𝐭 𝐏𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐤

For this St Piran's day, get the kids involved with an activity pack. Learn a little bit more about St Piran in a colourful and engaging way.

The activity packs will be free to collect from the Community Library on Pydar Street and the Visitor Information Centre on Boscawen Street.

25/02/2025

Both these two glasses-wearing goons (and that's meant as a compliment 🤣) have been or will be at Hall for Cornwall this year with their stand up shows.
Catch up on these books.
https://www.hallforcornwall.co.uk/whats-on/josh-widdicombe-not-my-cup-of-tea/

24/02/2025

Did you know that if you’ve borrowed books from Cornwall Libraries - even if you’ve picked them up from your local branch - you can return them to any library in Cornwall? No need to trek back to the exact spot you borrowed them trom!
So whether you’re out in Truro, visiting St Ives, or popping into Bude, you can borrow and return your books to the nearest Cornwall Library.

24/02/2025

Carys Daivis' Clear is set on Shetland in 1843. Both tense and tender, it's the story of
two men - Ivar who leads a life of quiet isolation and John a church minister sent to evict Ivar and turn the island into grazing land for sheep, and rescued by Ivar.

It's on the longlist for the Winston Graham Historical Fiction Prize.

23/02/2025

A love letter to Jane Austen and Elizabeth Gaskell, The Trouble with Mrs Montgomery Hurst is a witty novel of manners and gossip, class and family, scandal and romance.

'Romance and scandal abound in this compelling period drama . . . Recommended for all lovers of Regency historical fiction' LAURA SHEPPERSON, author of The Heroines

'Warm and witty, with a wonderful cast of quirky characters whose company I found irresistible' JESSICA BULL, author of Miss Austen Investigates

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A single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife . . .

But why would he choose her?

Summer 1841. It is marriage season in the county of Wickenshire, and Miss Amelia Ashpoint isn’t sure she can face yet another ball. But now that she has reached the grand age of three-and-twenty, time is (apparently) running out. Her father is anxious to secure her a husband and has set his sights on Mr Montgomery Hurst of Radcliffe Park.

Only, Mr Hurst has just announced his engagement to somebody else.

To the great consternation of Wickenshire, a community that thrives on gossip, the county’s most eligible bachelor is about to marry not only an unknown stranger – but a widow with three children, odd manners and no ancestry to speak of. Society is appalled and intrigued.

Meanwhile, Amelia Ashpoint has no interest in marriage at all. But in this town, it is clear that nobody’s business is their own. And while society has high expectations for Amelia, her heart is drawing her in a very different direction . . .

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‘A glittering comedy with spiky wit, an eye for social critique, and (of course) a terrific sense of irony’ TOM MEAD, author of Death and the Conjuror

'Rich with scandal, romance and social mores . . . a total delight!' ANITA FRANK, author of The Good Liars

'A feast of clever wit and lovingly drawn characters, this is an absolute treat for fans of Jane Austen - or anyone looking for top-rate storytelling' HESTER MUSSON

22/02/2025

Inspired by a real case and set in October 1933, The Stranger's Companion by Mary Horlock is fascinating in the way the writing employs an inventive variety of narrative techniques.
On the isolated island of Sark, the neatly folded clothes of an unknown man and woman are discovered abandoned at a coastal beauty spot. The search for the missing couple catches the attention of the national newspapers.
Young islander Phyllis Carey is determined to solve the mystery, crossing paths with Everard Hyde, a surprise visitor from her past.
The real-life crime remains unsolved to this day. Is this so in the book? Read and find out!

https://cornwallmuseum.org/the-launch-of-the-2025.../

21/02/2025

On the longlist for The 2025 Winston Graham Historical Fiction Prize, One Girl Began blends the stories of three women, separated by history but connected by the same building in Hackney in a beautifully detailed and sensitive style, showing how we are all linked across the years.
For Ellen in 1909, it is a box factory where she finds work and a transformative circle of friendship when her family fall on hard times.
For Frances in 1984, it is a derelict ruin, where she joins a group of squatters and is drawn into a coercive relationship.
For Amanda in 2020, it is a gentrified conversion, where she finds herself trapped in a tiny flat and grappling with new motherhood as the pandemic looms into view.

https://cornwallmuseum.org/the-launch-of-the-2025-winston-graham-historical-fiction-prize/