This week Penguin Random House and Waterstones hosted an eve-of-publication launch for The Secret Commonwealth, the second instalment in Philip Pullman’s bestselling The Book of Dust series at Alexandra Palace Theatre.
This event sold out within weeks of tickets going on sale.
High-profile stars of stage and screen – including Anne-Marie Duff and Raffiella Chapman (who star in the upcoming prime-time BBC One adaptation of His Dark Materials), and Niamh Cusack (who starred in a stage production of His Dark Materials) – read extracts from Pullman’s work, taking the audience on a journey across heroine Lyra Belacqua’s lifetime.
The event took place just ahead of the global series TX on HBO and BBC One.
The evening culminated in a Q&A with Pullman hosted by author and executive editor of VICE UK, Zing Tsjeng, broadcast in partnership with BBC Sounds. The Secret Commonwealth: The Book of Dust Volume Two is publishing today, 3rd October, by David Fickling Books in association with Penguin Random House in the UK.
