About

We couldn't be more excited to be presenting, in association with the Burnside Library,  Pip Williams for the launch of her latest novel, The German Ward. Pip is the bestselling author of the much-adored The Dictionary of Lost Words and The Bookbinder of Jericho, as well as a firm friend of the bookshop. Pip will be in conversation with our very own, Molly Murn at 7pm on Tuesday September 29 at the Regal Theatre, Kensington Park. Pip's new novel is the breathtaking love story of the year, and we cannot wait to hear her talking about the book, as well as about love and art in a time of war. Not to be missed!

The German Ward is a story about desire. It is France, 1915, and an English nurse and German doctor fall in love. He is a prisoner of war; she has never cared for rules. Their love is visceral and urgent, forbidden and doomed, and it would have gone unrecorded if not for a series of drawings found more than a century later. At first the drawings seem insignificant, but the woman who finds them glimpses moments of intimacy and can’t look away. The images become part of a puzzle she wants to solve: who were the lovers, what became of them, and what story of war was the artist trying to tell? In this luminous tale of hope in the midst of darkness, Pip Williams expands the world of her bestselling novels, The Dictionary of Lost Words and The Bookbinder of Jericho. Sensual and sophisticated, The German Ward shows one of Australia’s most significant writers reaching the height of her skills.

Pip Williams is the author of the companion novels, The Dictionary of Lost Words and The Bookbinder of Jericho. Since its publication in 2020, The Dictionary of Lost Words has won a number of major book awards, was chosen for the Reese Witherspoon Book Club and became a New York Times bestseller. As well as being adapted for stage, The Dictionary of Lost Words is being turned into a book concerto and has been optioned for a limited series. Pip’s second novel, The Bookbinder of Jericho, was published in 2023 and was an instant bestseller. In 2024, it won the Australian Book Industry Awards General Fiction Book of the Year and was Dymocks’ number-one book in its Top 101. Both novels were also recognised in ABC Radio National’s Top 100 Books of the 21st Century. 

Tickets are $20 (+ booking fee), or you can purchase Ticket + Signed Book $35 (+ booking fee) (The German Ward is usually $35rrp on its own). If you choose the Ticket + Signed Book option, your book will be ready for collection on the night. Copies of The German Ward and Pip's other titles will also be available on the night.

We very much look forward to seeing you there. This event will sell out quickly, so don't hesitate.

Date

Location

Regal Theatre
275 Kensington Road, Kensington Park SA 5068

Contact Event Organiser

08 8339 3931 or books@matildabookshop.com.au