Priscilla Morris and Leo Vardiashvili @ Dukes of West Barns

If you've ever asked me for a book recommendation in store at Night Owl Books, it's highly unlikely that I haven't mentioned Priscilla Morris's stunning debut novel Black Butterflies, which is set in 1991 and follows artist Zora through the first year of the Siege of Sarajevo. It truly is a remarkable novel, and I had found nothing like it in tone or theme until I read the equally captivating Hard by a Great Forest by Leo Vardiashvili, which was released in February this year, and which follows a young man, Saba, who returns to his home city of Tbilisi, Georgia, two decades after fleeing the Georgian Civil War of 1991.

It's an honour to be welcoming both authors to East Lothian for this event, and I'm so looking forward to speaking to them about their work!