Facebook just pointed out that four years ago we did a lovely event for The Fountain in the Forest with the wonderful Crystal Palace bookshop The Bookseller Crow on the Hill.

I was lucky to share that event with fellow novelist Gregory Norminton who was also talking about his own novel The Devil’s Highway.

Gregory’s novel (his fifth) is set in the kind of ancient Surrey heath-lands that were on my doorstep growing up. Gregory is a great and thoughtful novelist and a very good speaker about writing, so it was a real pleasure to appear together.

But this also reminded me that The Bookseller Crow was the source of my best ever customer/reader review, which Jonathan Main of The Bookseller Crow posted on Instagram at the time.

In case you were ever wondering whether reader reviews and feedback make a difference, and if they are ever passed on by bookshops, the answer to both questions is Yes.

Sharing here with immense thanks to Jonathan and Gerry for the feedback and support — it means a lot.

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