Local author turns book launch into charity boost
A book launch with a twist is taking place in Market Drayton as local author Geoffrey Hugh Lindop releases his new Kindle book, The Secret World of Gillian Corbett, unusually — through the town’s charity shops. Every penny from the sale of special paperback copies will go directly to the various charity shops on Cheshire Street.
“The front cover features Gillian Corbett standing in front of the Buttercross,” said Geoffrey, “and I want to catch the attention of people walking down Cheshire Street, where the Buttercross is located.”
Geoffrey’s ties to the town run deep. He even worked as a part-time projectionist at the old Hippodrome cinema, now one of Market Drayton’s busiest restaurants. “Alan Maddox, the Chief Projectionist, was busy on the very last night discussing how to dismantle the projection box with an engineer from Essoldo, the company that ran the cinema,” he said. “So I ended up running the last film ever shown there.”
He remembers the quirks of the place. “The projection box wasn’t as high as in most cinemas. One evening the screen suddenly went blank. Alan checked the projector — the lamp was on, the film was running — but nothing was on the screen. He walked into the auditorium and found the movie being perfectly projected onto the back of a police officer’s helmet. He just tapped him and said, ‘Move along please.’”
The new novella follows Gillian Corbett, a historical researcher by day and part-time bar worker by night. She launches her book, about the history of Drayton, on the anniversary of the building of the Buttercross. Nobody knows of her secret life - not even her parents and siblings - but at the book launch her secret tarnishes her relationship with her brother. Her quiet life unravels as the pressure of keeping that secret finally becomes too much.
While the paperback edition supports local causes, The Secret World of Gillian Corbett — and its sequel, The Love of a Stranger — are on Kindle. The two stories are separate. The Love Of A Stranger features the Battle of Blore Heath. They are the first two stories in the series Love in a Timeless Universe. “I wanted to use the launch to raise money for the community I grew up in,” Geoffrey said.
