In Conversation with ground-breaking dual-heritage author Jacqueline Roy at The Reader, Liverpool.

The author Jacqueline Roy will be in Liverpool discussing her ‘forgotten’ novel The Fat Lady Sings, republished as part of Booker-winner Bernardine Evaristo’s Black Britain: Writing Back series, and her latest novel, In Memory of Us.

The Reader is set to welcome back dual-heritage author Jacqueline Roy to talk about two of her groundbreaking novels exploring issues of mental health and identity affecting black, British-born women post-Windrush.

The Manchester-based writer (The Gosling Girl) will be In Conversation at the home of national Shared Reading charity in Calderstones Park on Saturday 8 February, 2pm - 4pm, to discuss The Fat Lady Sings and her latest novel, In Memory of Us, published in 2024.

A tender and deeply moving depiction of mental health, The Fat Lady Sings is a striking portrait of two black women - one in their 20s; the other in her 50s – as they navigate life on a London psychiatric ward. It was one of 13 novels relaunched as part of the Black Britain: Writing Back series curated by Booker-winning author Bernardine Evaristo to address the ‘historical bias in publishing’ working with Hamish Hamilton at Penguin Random House.

Jacqueline said: “It’s been such an important project to be part of, and I’ve particularly enjoyed sharing a platform with some of the other writers in the series – especially Judith Bryan and Nicola Williams. We’ve had such interesting discussions.

“The re-publication of The Fat Lady Sings was a form of validation too, which has been great for my confidence as a writer. It was very unexpected. Once a book goes out of print, you tend to think it’s over and done with, so it was very exciting to revisit it and to think it would be read once more.” The novel was also picked by staff and volunteers as part of The Reader Bookshelf 2024/25, a curated annual collection of books for adults and children based on a different theme. This year’s theme is Wonder.

Jacqueline said: “I love visiting The Reader. It’s such a warm, inviting place and books and reading are really valued here so it feels special.

“I feel very honoured that The Fat Lady Sings has been selected. Big thanks to all involved. Wonder has more than one meaning. To wonder is to question, and in The Fat Lady Sings, Gloria, one of two central characters, constantly questions the way she is treated.

“She questions authority and challenges the people who dehumanize her and the other patients on the psychiatric ward.”

Jacqueline revealed that she first wanted to tell this story after attending a black writers’ conference in the 1990s.

She said: “One of the speakers, who was roughly my age, said that he didn’t know a single black person of his generation who hadn’t either been in prison or in a psychiatric hospital. He asked where the books were that spoke of those experiences.

“As I had spent time in a psychiatric hospital myself, I thought I was well placed to write such a book, and The Fat Lady Sings became my first novel for adults.

“Because it was very much a work of fiction rather than an autobiographical novel, it wasn’t too difficult for me to write it. The main thing I grappled with was wanting to present the characters in a way that was respectful and restored humanity to the experience of being categorised as a psychiatric patient.

“It seemed very important to show the dignity, the resilience and the fortitude of people who find themselves in such circumstances, so it felt like a big responsibility.”

Jacqueline, a former lecturer in English at Manchester Metropolitan University specialising in black literature and creative writing for many years who has also written several children’s books, left to concentrate on writing fiction.

Her latest novel In Memory of Us has been very well-received by UK literary critics and offers an insight into life as a black Briton post-Windrush.

She said: “The Black Britain: Writing Back series was created through the recognition that it was very difficult for black people of my generation to be published and when we were, the books didn’t stay in print for long.

“This has meant that experiences of being black and British-born, growing up in the 1950s and 60s, haven’t been explored in fiction very much at all.

“I wanted to produce a novel that addressed this, so I wrote In Memory of Us, which is about twin sisters, who are part of the post-Windrush generation. It spans 70 years and looks at some of the changes that have taken place in that time.”

Jamie Barton, Bookshop and Literary Activity Manager at The Reader, said: “It’s the brilliant Jacqueline Roy’s second visit to The Reader and we can’t wait to chat to her about The Fat Lady Sings – a wonderful and much loved title from our Wonder bookshelf – and hear all about her latest book, In Memory of Us.”

· In Conversation with Jacqueline Roy at Calderstones Park, Liverpool, will take place on Saturday 8 February at 2pm. Running time: two hours. Tickets are £9 for Calderstones members and £10 full price. To book visit here.

· A free Shared Reading workshop on The Fat Lady Sings will be held at 1pm before the event. To book visit here.