Night Owl Book Club - Online - The Pretender - Monday 25th May
Join us for our first online Night Owl book club on Monday, 25th May, when we'll be meeting at 8.30 pm to discuss The Pretender by Jo Harkin.
Purchase a copy of the book from Night Owl Books via this page and receive a free ticket for our online book club event.
Copies are available for collection from the bookshop around publication day (2nd April) or alternatively, please select a shipping option to have the book posted to you. If you live outside the UK, or would prefer to read the book in another format, please select a 'ticket only' option.
We'll be meeting online using Google Meet, and you will be emailed a link to join us the day before. Please note that the book club will not be recorded.
About the book:
Wolf Hall meets Demon Copperhead in a sharply ambitious, brilliantly imagined and hugely entertaining story of intrigue, deceit, revenge and ambition.
NAMED AS BEST HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE SUNDAY TIMES
PICKED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025 BY THE GUARDIAN AND THE SUNDAY TIMES
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WINSTON GRAHAM HISTORICAL PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT HISTORICAL FICTION PRIZE 2026
1483. The English throne is in peril. Peasant boy and pretender John Collan is faced with two options.
a) Become king
b) Die trying
What could possibly go wrong?
Seething with revenge and machination, sparkling with wit and humanity, and roaring with adventure and bravado, The Pretender is the captivating true story of a young man tossed into the chaos of history as it happens.
Paperback, 464 pages, publishing on the 2nd April 2026.
FAQs
- Which platform will the meeting be held on?
We'll be meeting online using Google Meet.
- Will the book club be recorded?
To encourage a live discussion (just like our book clubs in the bookshop!), we will not be recording the meeting.
- Can I attend the meeting without buying a copy of the book?
Of course! Please select a 'ticket only' option on this page. If you would prefer to listen to the audiobook or e-book, could we suggest two brilliant independent companies xigxag and bookshop.org?
- We'd like to attend as a couple and share a copy of the book - is that possible?
Of course! You can order one copy of the book via this page, and one 'ticket only' option.
- I'm no longer able to attend - could I get a refund?
Unfortunately, due to the high cost of card processing and refund fees, tickets are non-refundable.
- How long will the book club be?
We anticipate that it will last one hour to one and half hours.