Jane Bailey at The Cotswold Bookstore

Jane Bailey is a “Gloucestershire girl” through and through, having been born and bred in Leckhampton, and she's the author of Promising, An Angel In Waiting, Mad Joy and Tommy Glover's Sketch Of Heaven.

As well as writing, Bailey is a tutor at The Arvon Foundation, and teaches creative writing at Cheltenham Literature Festival, where she’s also a committee member.

This week, she’s chosen The Cotswold Book Store in Moreton in Marsh for The Book Show's Book Club. "It's my favourite shop in all the world," says Bailey. "People come in for chat or for advice on books - it's like an old village post office. The Cotswold Book Store really is the centre of Moreton in Marsh."

Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

This week’s Book Club recommendation is Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy– the novel that Bailey also chose for Cheltenham Literature Festival’s Big Read and a story that’s always been one of her favourites. “I first read it at school but rereading it since then has been completely different. It’s really about woman who inherits a farm and the three men who woo her. But there’s plenty of meat in there for discussion, says Bailey, who feels that Hardy’s novel is the perfect choice for book clubs. “This novel should give book groups something to discuss and still has a great relevance to modern relationships between men and women, which should really get debate going!”