​A one-night-only celebration of literature, live jazz, and vintage glamour

​Picture this: a golden-lit cinema, all curved rows and velvet seats, the scent of popcorn mingling with the clink of glasses from the bar. A hush falls. The lights dim. Then—music. A jazz version of something you definitely know, floating through the room like it’s always belonged there.

Welcome to our 1920s themed Midnight Carousel evening — not just a book talk, but a full sensory step back in time. We’re taking over The Rex, Wilmslow’s stunning vintage cinema, for one night only. Author Fiza Saeed McLynn will be joining us in conversation about her dazzling new novel, with the whole Simply Books team dressed to the nines in full 1920s style. 

At the heart of the evening is something rather special: live music throughout from our very own Chloe, transformed for the night into a vintage jazz singer in a showstopping dress. She’ll be performing a full set list of modern songs reimagined in rich, smoky jazz — the perfect soundtrack to the drinks, conversation, and soft cinema lights.

It’s immersive. It’s elegant. It’s designed to make you feel like you’ve stepped straight into the pages of the book. Join us for a night of stories, music, and a little bit of magic. You won’t want to miss it.

​About The Midnight Carousel

​Paris, 1914

​Detective Laurent Bisset has reluctantly closed a most puzzling case. Fairgoers have been vanishing while riding a dazzling carousel. The only man who could be responsible is behind bars – but Laurent cannot explain what happened to those missing.

​Chicago, 1920

​Maisie Marlowe acquires a beautiful, antique carousel, and sets up the Silver Kingdom amusement park. It is a place of delight and wonder – until a child goes missing on its most famous ride.

​When rumours of the Chicago disappearance reach Laurent, he crosses the Atlantic in search of new answers to an old mystery. Together, can he and Maisie uncover the carousel’s secret before it claims another?

​About Fiza Saeed McLynn

​Fiza Saeed McLynn is a British novelist born in Karachi to an English mother and a Pakistani father. She moved to London as a child. After reading Modern History at Oxford University, she had a brief career in finance and then spent the next twelve years helping the bereaved as part of her work as a complementary therapist.

​Fiza now writes full time from her home in London, which she shares with her American husband, and two children.