Carnegies Event Week 2025: THINGS WE LEAVE BEHIND with Clare Furniss

About this event

Join author Clare Furniss for an event about THINGS WE LEAVE BEHIND, celebrating its Carnegie Writing Medal shortlisting. Suitable for ages 13+.

Civil unrest in London has reached an all-time high after years of a growing authoritarian regime, and it’s no longer safe for Clem and her half-sister Billie in the city. Clem tells of their treacherous journey to Scotland, by road and then by sea, fleeing with nothing but a notebook filled with stories and memories of home. But is there something Clem’s not saying? And how will this journey – and the sisters’ story – end? With the start of a new life? Or a mirror held up to the past?

Book content advice: strong language, drinking, some violence, racism, child refugee experience, authoritarianism, xenophobia, dementia, police brutality, death, terrorism, extremism.