Join the Bondi Literary Salon Book Club, hosted by Justine Hatcher! In our gathering, we will be discussing the latest novel from Booker Prize winning author Eleanor Catton, Birnam Wood.

WHEN: Tuesday, 29th August, 2023, at Gertrude & Alice Cafe Bookstore, this event will be hosted in-store, please arrive at 6:45pm for a prompt 7pm start.

TICKETS: Admission, $25.00 (excluding external fees). Your ticket includes a drink on arrival and nibbles on the evening.

From the Booker Prize winning author of The Luminaries

About Birnam Wood

Birnam Wood is on the move...

Five years ago, Mira Bunting founded a guerrilla gardening group: Birnam Wood. An undeclared, unregulated, sometimes-criminal, sometimes-philanthropic gathering of friends, this activist collective plants crops wherever no one will notice, on the sides of roads, in forgotten parks, and neglected backyards. For years, the group has struggled to break even. Then Mira stumbles on an answer, a way to finally set the group up for the long term: a landslide has closed the Korowai Pass, cutting off the town of Thorndike. Natural disaster has created an opportunity, a sizable farm seemingly abandoned.

But Mira is not the only one interested in Thorndike. Robert Lemoine, the enigmatic American billionaire, has snatched it up to build his end-times bunker – or so he tells Mira when he catches her on the property. Intrigued by Mira, Birnam Wood, and their entrepreneurial spirit, he suggests they work this land. But can they trust him? And, as their ideals and ideologies are tested, can they trust each other?

A gripping psychological thriller from the Booker Prize-winning author of The Luminaries, Birnam Wood is Shakespearean in its wit, drama and immersion in character. A brilliantly constructed consideration of intentions, actions, and consequences, it is an unflinching examination of the human impulse to ensure our own survival.

About the Host

Justine is a life-long book lover and a regular of both Gertrude & Alice, and the Bondi Literary Salon.

About Bondi Literary Salon

Bondi Literary Salon was established in 2018, it is the in-house bookclub of beloved Bondi institution, Gertrude & Alice. The Bondi Literary Salon endeavours to explore the vast world of literature each month, with a selection that reflects a focus on diverse writers and stories; delving into both classic and contemporary fiction, as well as non-fiction. Our philosophy has always been to use language and literature not only as a tool for connection and community, but as an insight to worlds we have not had the pleasure of visiting ourselves. We welcome all - young and old, those with a life-long love of literature, or whose relationship may be only beginning. Join us in the unmatched comfort of an after-hours bookstore, accompanied by wine and cheese, for an evening spent discussing books and building community.

About Gertrude & Alice Cafe Bookstore

Rated as one of the top 10 bookstores in the world by National Geographic, Gertrude & Alice Cafe Bookstore is an oasis for writers, readers and coffee lovers. Books overflow from the shelves of their store, featuring a mix of new, second-hand, antiquarian and rare books. Stay a while & enjoy some home made chai, amazing coffee and unearth a book treasure or two. Read more about the bookstore's story here, and about the real Gertrude & Alice here.