Journeying from sixteenth-century Mexico to 1640s Yorkshire, join us for an evening of historical fiction on Tuesday 17th March as we welcome Sofia Robleda and Liz Flanagan to our Romiley shop to discuss their new novels The Other Moctezuma Girls and When We Were Divided. Sofia and Liz will be in conversation with bookshop owner Kelly and the talk will be followed by an audience Q&A and booksigning.

Tickets are £5.00 each, £9.99 including a copy of The Other Moctezuma Girls, £10.99 including a copy of When We Were Divided, or £20 for a ticket and copy of both books. Light refreshments are included in the ticket price.

Event starts at 6:30pm (doors at 6pm)

About the books:

The Other Moctezuma Girls by Sofia Robleda

In sixteenth-century Mexico, a fearless young woman strives to uncover the secrets her mother kept as the last Aztec empress in a sweeping historical epic by the author of Daughter of Fire.

Tenochtitlan, 1551. Thirty years after the Spanish Conquest destroyed everything she loved, the last Aztec empress has passed and left behind a pristine yet tenuous legacy for her children. As her last will and testament is read out, her daughter Isabel suspects that another account of her mother's life may exist, hidden away, chapter by chapter, in the Valley of Mexico. Following each clue, Isabel is determined to find out who her mother really was and to discover the secrets she buried in order to survive.

Joined by her siblings and a handsome young cook named Juan, Isabel embarks on a perilous journey to piece together the pasta journey that will force the party to brave the brutal viceroyal court, face fearsome legends in mystical chinampas, and trek through desert, fire, and snow. As Isabel's feelings for Juan grow, she confronts everything she thought she knew about her Spanish father, her empress mother, and herself. Facing everything from the tunnels of ancient pyramids to the summit of an active volcano, Isabel will meet every challenge to fulfill an epic quest for the truth.

When We Were Divided by Liz Flanagan

Expertly crafted and beautifully sensitive, with themes of family and political conflict, and pure but forbidden love, this book will stay with readers for a long time.

Divided by plague, divided by war, divided by love - what will reunite two sisters?

Yorkshire, 1643. Civil war divides the country.

Jane mourns the departure of her last boy who goes off to fight for the king. She must find a new way to endure, facing family secrets and her own buried grief.

Isabel is spurred into action, finding herself drawn into the rebel resistance - with unexpected consequences that might mean disaster for her sister Jane.

Kit is left desperate and starving, taking on the identity of a murdered brother. Life in the king's army brings friendship, new hope and even love at the most perilous moment of all. As these three lives intertwine, each of them will be altered forever.

About the authors:

Sofia Robleda is a Mexican writer and author of Daughter of Fire. She spent her childhood and adolescence in Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore, and completed her undergraduate and doctorate degrees in psychology at the University of Queensland, Australia. She currently lives in the UK with her husband and son, and splits her time between writing, raising her son, and working as a psychologist, supporting people with brain injuries and neurological conditions.

Liz Flanagan is an award-winning author whose previous books were for children and young adults. When We Were Divided is her first novel for adults. She teaches Creative Writing in many different settings and previously worked as a book editor and as Centre Director for Arvon at Ted Hughes's former home, Lumb Bank. She lives in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, with her family and pets and loves to walk in the beautiful landscape of her hometown.