A Ghostly Adventure: First Ever Novel Set at Surrey’s Brooklands Museum Released
30 November 2016
Mark Richardson’s new novel ‘The Ghost at Brooklands Museum’ will launch this Halloween and builds on the museum’s long standing reputation for being haunted.
Brooklands is a place known for its firsts. The Brooklands racing circuit, which was operational between 1907 and 1939 was the world’s first purpose-built racing circuit, which in turn played host to the first ever British Grand Prix. Now there is another addition to the list, the first novel set at Brooklands Museum, the institution dedicated to Brooklands’ rich motoring and aviation history.
The museum is notorious for being a haunted location and over the years numerous sightings of ghosts have been reported, the most famous being the figure of Percy Lambert. Lambert was the first person in history to travel over 100 miles in an hour, a record he set in a Talbot car at Brooklands in 1913. Later that year, Lambert was tragically killed trying to improve on that record at Brooklands. Dozens of sightings of a ghostly figure resembling Percy Lambert, silently walking the area of the old Brooklands circuit have since been reported.
Such ghost sightings formed part of author Mark Richardson’s inspiration for The Ghost at Brooklands Museum. “I’ve been visiting the museum since I was about 10 years old” explains Mark, “but it was only in more recent years when I attended a night-time tour of the museum that I encountered Brooklands’ ghostly past. I’d been toying with the idea of a novel set at the museum, but it was this visit where the pieces for the book clicked together.”
Mark has also made the decision that all personal profits from the novel will be donated back to the museum. “Brooklands has a fabulous history and I was lucky enough to spend dozens of happy weekends visiting whilst growing up. As such, I think it’s only right that all proceeds from the book go to the museum, helping it to continue the great and varied work it undertakes.”
Valerie Mills, Commercial Director at Brooklands Museum said “Brooklands is a rich ground for writing inspiration and we were delighted when we heard about the publication of Mark’s novel. A number of our favourite museum pieces feature in the book, including the Napier-Railton, which holds the all-time Brooklands circuit lap record. Visiting Brooklands Museum has always been an enjoyable family experience. Now we have an exciting new novel to add to that day out!”
The Ghost at Brooklands Museum is released on 31st October 2016 by Troubador Publishing. It will be available as an e-book at most major retailers and as a physical copy in the Brooklands Museum gift shop. The novel is aimed at an independent readership of 10 years+ and is suitable for family reading. All ghosts in the novel are friendly!
Join us on Firday 9th December at 12pm for the offial launch of the novel, in the ERA shed, next to the world famous Napier-Railton. Mark Richardson will be here signing copies of the book, which are now available to buy from the Museum Shop and online here
