Booksmith is thrilled to host Candice Carty-Williams, internationally bestselling author of the “brazenly hilarious, tell-it-like-it-is first novel” (Oprah Daily) Queenie, for her anticipated follow-up People Person. She will be in conversation with the always inspiring Sarah Ladipo Manyika, author of In Dependence, Like A Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun and the forthcoming Between Starshine and Clay: Conversations from the African Diaspora. Join us!

PLEASE NOTE: Advance sales for this event have ended, but we will have seats available at the door.

Please note:

• Safety: ID and proof of full vaccination, including booster, will be required at the door. Masks will be required throughout the duration of the event, capacity will be limited to allow indoor distancing, and we'll have extra ventilation in place. 
• Because we’re limiting capacity, we can't guarantee we'll have space for walk-ins. The best way to ensure you’ll get a seat is to order the Book + Seat ticket through this link; you can also RSVP for a free standing room spot right here.
• We are happy to offer *signed copies* of People Person: order a Book + Seat ticket bundle if you'd like to pick up a signed copy at the event, or order here if you just want a signed copy.
• Order books by Sarah Ladipo Manyika here.
• If we feel it is not safe to gather, as the event gets closer, we will pivot to a virtual event and your registration will remain valid.
• Questions? Write [email protected].

About the book

If you could choose your family...you wouldn’t choose the Penningtons.

Dimple Pennington knows of her half siblings, but she doesn’t really know them. Five people who don’t have anything in common except for faint memories of being driven through Brixton in their dad’s gold jeep, and some pretty complex abandonment issues. Dimple has bigger things to think about.

She’s thirty, and her life isn’t really going anywhere. An aspiring lifestyle influencer with a terrible and wayward boyfriend, Dimple’s life has shrunk to the size of a phone screen. And despite a small but loyal following, she’s never felt more alone in her life. That is, until a dramatic event brings her half siblings Nikisha, Danny, Lizzie, and Prynce crashing back into her life. And when they’re all forced to reconnect with Cyril Pennington, the absent father they never really knew, things get even more complicated.

From an author with “a flair for storytelling that appears effortlessly authentic” (Time), People Person is a vibrant and charming celebration of discovering family as an adult.

About the authors

Candice Carty-Williams was a senior marketing executive at Vintage. In 2016, she created and launched The Guardian and 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize, which aims to find, champion, and celebrate underrepresented writers. She contributes regularly to i-D, Refinery29, Beat Magazine, and more, and her pieces, especially those about blackness, sex, and identity, have been shared globally. She is the author of People Person and Queenie. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @CandiceC_W.

Sarah Ladipo Manyika is a British-Nigerian-American writer of novels, short stories and essays translated into several languages. She is author of the best-selling novel In Dependence (2009) and multiple shortlisted novel Like A Mule Bringing Ice Cream To The Sun (2016), and has had work published in publications including Granta, The Guardian, the Washington Post and Transfuge among others. Sarah serves as Board Chair for the women's writing residency, Hedgebrook; she was previously Board Director for the Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco; and has been a judge for the Goldsmiths Prize, California Book Awards, Aspen Words Literary Prize, and Chair of judges for the Pan-African Etisalat Prize.

Please note:

• Safety: ID and proof of full vaccination, including booster, will be required at the door. Masks will be required throughout the duration of the event, capacity will be limited to allow indoor distancing, and we'll have extra ventilation in place. 
• Because we’re limiting capacity, we can't guarantee we'll have space for walk-ins. The best way to ensure you’ll get a seat is to order the Book + Seat ticket through this link; you can also RSVP for a free standing room spot right here.
• We are happy to offer *signed copies* of People Person: order a Book + Seat ticket bundle if you'd like to pick up a signed copy at the event, or order here if you just want a signed copy.
• Order books by Sarah Ladipo Manyika here.
• If we feel it is not safe to gather, as the event gets closer, we will pivot to a virtual event and your registration will remain valid.
• Questions? Write [email protected].