Finding My Way To Talliston

John Tarrow's The Stranger's Guide to Talliston has found a new home upon my book shelves

On a visit to Tonbridge's old school, labyrinthine, second-hand book store, Teppa Books, last weekend - during its half-price sale - I found myself drawn towards a hardback tome at the bottom of a pile of paperbacks.

I was actually looking for Tolkien books - as we'd visited on Tolkien's birthday - but found myself wandering through the near-claustrophobic tunnels of beautifully overladen shelves (most two layers deep, so it's a real expedition to find just the book you were hoping to find).

That's when the spine of The Stranger's Guide to Talliston  (pictured above) caught my eye, a hardback fantasy novel among paperbacks.

I carefully extricated the book, making sure the paperbacks didn't topple on the floor, read the dust jacket and skimmed through the book... only to discover that it had been signed by the author (John Tarrow)!

I love signed books, they're the ultimate "six degrees of Kevin Bacon" next to actually shaking the author's hand.

I love a signed book!

For four pounds - reduced to two - I knew this had to be mine (thanks Rachel for buying it for me) and so The Stranger's Guide to Talliston came home with us. And that's where the fun really began.

As intriguing as the dust jacket was, it didn't really give too much away, so I went to Amazon to scan the reviews and they were really good. Several, however, also pointed out that Talliston was a real place, a "magical" house in Essex.

I could have found this out if I'd flicked to the back of the book (where there's a map of the house interior), but instead I opted for Google and this sent me down a delightful rabbit hole.

Again, I only briefly scanned this as I'm always keen to avoid spoilers, but the house, which is central to the story, appears to be an incredible labour of love. I'll confess that I'm really surprised that I'd never heard of it before.

Now, I'm very excited to dig in to The Stranger's Guide and see if it stirs some kind of bravery in me that would give me the courage to travel to the village of Great Dunmow and visit Talliston in person.