AN AUTHOR from Hartley Wintney has launched her new book at Waterstones in Festival Place.

Helen Matthews launched her After Leaving the Village on Monday, 16 October with Prosecco and slices of celebratory cake baked by Pam Luck from Bramley.

Helen was introduced by Kit De Wall, the award-winning author of My Name is Leon, who spoke about the themes of human trafficking and modern slavery that inspired the book.

Because of the importance of raising awareness of these issues, the novel has been endorsed by the inspirational charity Unseen that campaigns for a world without slavery.

Stocks of the book ran out before the end of the evening though Waterstones has since ordered further copies for the Festival Place branch.

To find out more about the author, go to helenmatthewswriter.com