Jo Baker with A Country Road, A Tree

We are thrilled to be welcoming the bestselling author of Longbourn, Jo Baker! We’ll be celebrating her new novel A Country Road, A Tree – taking readers behind the scenes once more with the life and loves of a twentieth century literary icon.

Set in Paris on the eve of Nazi occupation in 1939 the pavement rumbles with the footfall of Hitler’s soldiers marching along the Champs Elysees. Baker’s protagonist is a young writer based on Samuel Beckett, recently arrived from Ireland to make his mark on Paris’ literary scene. He smokes one last cigarette with his lover before the city they know is torn apart. Soon, he will put is own life and those of his loved ones in mortal danger by joining the Resistance…

Spies, artists, deprivation, danger and passion: this is a story of life at the edges of human experience, and of how one man came to translate it all into art.

Educated at Oxford and Queen’s University Belfast, Baker became a literary sensation with her debut Longbourn, now due to be transferred to the big screen. This new foray into literary lives is perfectly plotted and equally compelling – An evening with Jo will fascinate and enthrall fans of fiction and history alike.