‘Pearl River’

Book Launch with James Dodds

7.00pm Saturday 14th October

St Mary’s Church

Wivenhoe

Tickets (£6) available online and in the Bookshop

Join us for the launch of James Dodds first historical novel Pearl River, a Wivenhoe Shipwright’s story. The book is a portrait of a maritime community through the eighteenth century, told by a father and son learning their trade on the river famous for oysters, shipbuilding and fast customs cutters.

About the Book

James Dodds talks here about his research and inspiration:

“The story is woven from a few facts gleaned from wills and parish records, threaded through with my imagining of what their lives would have been like. Most events, names and dates are real; in tribute to the people whose lives I’ve enjoyed uncovering, their stories have been spun afresh with the help of my fictional William King and his son.”

Pearl River is a paperback edition with ten beautiful linocut illustrations, priced at £8.99.

About the Author

James Dodds (b.1957) is a British artist whose paintings and prints are inspired by boats and boat building. After being apprenticed as a shipwright in Maldon, Essex, he studied at Colchester School of Art, Chelsea School of Art and the Royal College of Art. Pearl River is his first foray into historical fiction.