SADDLEWORTH NOVELIST and TV writer Jan Needle is relaunching his most popular book… with a raised glass of ale and a recipe for Toad in the Hole.
Because a specially-brewed local bitter will be served for the launch at Uppermill Conservative Club on Wednesday, May 14 at 8pm and Mossley songwriter Eliza P will sing a comic ditty she has composed for the occasion.
Jan’s book, My Wild Wood, is an alternative version of Kenneth Grahame’s masterpiece The Wind in the Willows, with a very special twist in its tail.
Instead of being the heroes, Toad, Ratty, Mole and Badger are cast as unthinking rural Fatcats, who drive the hard-working – but underpaid – Wild Wooders to revolution.
The leader of the uprising is a stoat called Boddington, who is driven out of the South of England to found a brewery near Manchester.
Although the book was marketed as a children’s book when it was first published in 1981, Jan never intended it specifically for young readers.
Many of the characters are named after his favourite bitters, including OB the Chief Weasel, and JW Lees of Greengate.
And in his revised version, there is a beer recipe – formulated by Tony and Mary Harratt’s Greenfield Brewery – and another for Toad in the Hole. One version reads simply: “First catch your Toad. Batter him. Put him in a hole.”
One of the book’s greatest features are illustrations by satirist Willie Rushton whose son, Toby, will be joining celebrities in a West End bookshop for a southern launch of the book on May 6.
First published by Andre Deutsch, then Methuen and Scholastic, the book was well-received and soon became a cult best-seller, translated into many languages including Japanese.
The latest version has been snatched up by Golden Duck, run by Francis Wheen and his partner Julia Jones, and the quote on cover is Jan’s favourite – the late political journalist Paul Foot said simply: ‘Absolutely wonderful, joyful satire.’
Wild Wood is published on May 1 by Golden Duck (www.golden-duck.co.uk) at £9.99. There is also an ebook version. If you would like a copy contact Jan on jan.needle@gmail.com call 07754 777011 or 01457 875840.
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