A Parcel of Patterns

If ever there was a book to make us thankful to live in modern times, have scientific cures and the NHS, this is it.   Jill Paton Walsh catches the voices of long ago, in the unbroken narrative of one likeable girl: 'author' of the story. Punctuated by exquisite glimpses of Nature, beautiful and raw, and of joyous first love, the account lays bare the horror of a remorseless epidemic.  Even knowing the historical facts, we go on hoping, crossing our fingers, holding our breath.  The archaic language, jolting at first, feels familiar by the end and adds to the authenticity of the heroine's account. The message to the reader - if indeed there is one -  feels important: be grateful for small mercies...and glad to be alive

[Jill Paton Walsh] had an unpatronising literary style and was ambitious about what children would enjoy

Jill Paton Walsh (1937-2020) was an award-winning author of many books for children, young adults, and adults including The Green Book, A Parcel of Patterns, the Booker Prize shortlisted Knowledge of Angels, and the Whitbread Prize winner The Emperor's Winding Sheet. She completed Dorothy L. Sayers's unfinished Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane mystery manuscript, the international bestseller Thrones, Dominations, and continued Sayers's series with A Presumption of Death, The Attenbury Emeralds, and The Late Scholar. 
 
She held numerous posts connected to literature, including an Arts Council Creative Writing Fellowship, acting as a Whitbread Prize judge, and serving on the committee of the Society of Authors. She contributed articles and reviews to many journals. In 1996 Walsh was awarded a CBE for services to literature and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

A PLAGUE - A VILLAGE - A LOCKDOWN 
 
1665, Eyam, Derbyshire. 
'Here I have set down all that I know of the Plague' 
 
It is 1665 and Mall Percival is a shepherd girl living in a Derbyshire village. She tends her flock, spends time with her best friend and teaches her young suitor to read. But one day a parcel of patterns, meant for a new dress for the pastor's wife, wings its way from London. 
 
The parcel carries an infection that spreads with horrifying speed. Herbal teas and open windows are the only defence against the sickness. Yet the villagers make a brave and selfless decision: to isolate themselves from the rest of the country. It is a lockdown that saves the neighbouring towns, but at heart-breaking cost to Mall's world. 
 
Based on the true events of the village of Eyam, this is the story of a courageous sacrifice that saved Derbyshire and beyond from a deadly virus. 
 
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE WHITBREAD PRIZE* 
 
'A pocket masterpiece' Guardian 
 
Readers love A Parcel of Patterns 
 
'I couldn't put it down' 
 
'Brought me to tears too many times to count' 
 
'If you think social distancing is hard in the Coronavirus pandemic, read this wonderful novel based on the true story of the village of Eyam'

Jill Paton Walsh

Carolyn Pickles

Barbara Flynn

Tracy Wiles

Richard Derrington

Geoffrey Whitehead

Clare Corbett

Jasmine Hyde

Rosemary Leach

Peter  Howell

Colin Starkey

Full Cast

Two BBC Radio Crime Thrillers

Two delightful detective dramas adapted from Jill Paton Walsh's bestselling books 
 
Award-winning author Jill Paton Walsh was well known for her four Lord Peter Wimsey novels that continued and completed Dorothy L. Sayers's much-loved series. These two cosy crime dramas introduce her own sparkling creation, Imogen Quy, a college nurse and amateur sleuth who investigates foul play in academia. 
 
The Wyndham Case - The tranquil atmosphere of St Agatha's College, Cambridge is shattered when a young undergraduate is found dead on the floor of a specialist library. The repository of a rare collection of 17th-century scientific volumes, the 'Wyndham Case' is always kept locked: so how did Philip Skellow get in? And was his death accidental - or murder? Imogen is determined to find out... Starring Carolyn Pickles as Imogen Quy. 
 
A Piece of Justice - When Imogen's lodger Fran Bullion is asked to write the biography of eminent mathematician Gideon Summerfield, she is delighted - but Imogen fears she may be in danger. Three previous would-be biographers have either died or disappeared, and their research stopped at the same point in their subject's life: August 1978. What secret surrounds that fateful summer, and who is willing to kill to protect it? Barbara Flynn stars as Imogen, with Tracy Wiles as Fran. 
 
Text copyright © Jill Paton Walsh 1993 (The Wyndham Case), 1995 (A Piece of Justice) 
All rights reserved 
 
Production credits 
Written by Jill Paton Walsh 
 
The Wyndham Case 
Imogen Quy - Carolyn Pickles 
Mike Parsons - Richard Derrington 
Sir William Buckmote - Jeffery Dench 
Lady Buckmote - Marlene Sidaway 
Fran Bullion - Tracy Wiles 
Mountnessing - Charles Collingwood 
Mrs Skellow - Gillian Goodman 
Lord Goldhooper - Ian Brooker 
Nick - Tom George 
Emily/Tracy - Claire Corbett 
Catherine/Felicity - Jasmine Hyde 
Jack - Thomas Arnold 
Phillip Skellow - Alex Trinder 
Roger - Martyn Read 
Dramatised by Neville Teller 
Directed by Peter Lesley Wild 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 3 February 2001 
 
A Piece of Justice 
Imogen Quy - Barbara Flynn 
Janet Somerfield - Rosemary Leach 
Fran Bullion - Tracy Wiles 
Josh - Robert Harper 
Dr Mistral - James Greene 
Lady Buckmote - Marlene Sidaway 
Sir William Buckmote - Geoffrey Whitehead 
Professor Maverack - Colin Starkey 
Meredith Bagadeuce - Peter Howell 
Pamela Zephyr - Di Botcher 
David Swann - Iwan Thomas 
Dramatised by Neville Teller 
Directed by Janet Whitaker 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 7 November 1998 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Jill Paton Walsh

Books by Jill Paton Walsh

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