Bridport Literary Festival takes place in November and the programme is due to be unveiled at the beginning of August.

But in a pre-programme announcement, BridLit has unveiled a special book club event with bestselling author Patrick Gale, whose book Mother's Boy came out in paperback this year.

The talk will be at The Bull Hotel ballroom on Monday, November 6 at 4pm.

Book clubs are now being invited to put Mother's Boy on their autumn reading list and then meet the author.

Loosely based on the life of Charles Causley, this is a coming-of-age novel of class, desire and two world wars. 

Said festival director Tanya Bruce-Lockhart: "Cornish laundress Laura meets her husband in 1914, only to be later widowed with a young child, Charles.

"As a new war looms, Charles signs up for the navy as a coder, relishing his escape from the tight gossipy confines of Launceston. Here he experiences the excitement and terror of a love as clandestine as his work. 

"Gale crafts a complex and tender rendering of the relationship between a dauntless mother and her son, who for much of his remarkable life, must hide in plain sight."

This is a book club event and copies of Mother's Boy purchased from The Book Shop in South Street, Bridport, prior to the event will be eligible for a 15% discount for book club members. 

Mrs Bruce-Lockhart added: "Block bookings may be seated together if you give the name of your book club when booking, and we encourage lively post event discussion."

The festival, the main sponsor of which is West Dorset law firm Kitson & Trotman, takes place in venues in and around the town from November 5 to 11.

The varied programme will be unveiled at the beginning of August, with priority booking for sponsors and Friends of Bridport Literary Festival when tickets go on sale on August 4 and then to the general public three weeks later.

To become a Friend of the festival, visit bridlit.com/support-us/