{"title":"Sally Castle","description":"Sally Castle graduated from Maidstone College of Art and was employed as a designer in London for ten years. Since then, she has worked as an independent designer and illustrator. Until 2009 Sally also taught Graphic Design at Thames Valley University and was a visiting tutor. She now works in her studio full time and enjoys experimental self-directed work as well as commissions, book design and illustration.","products":[{"product_id":"the-happy-prince","title":"The Happy Prince","description":" Sally Castle’s beautifully hand-lettered and illustrated edition of Oscar Wilde’s \u003cem\u003eThe Happy Prince \u003c\/em\u003esets the story among Reading’s parks, squares, rooflines and churches – the town that’s shaped her and her artwork and where Oscar spent an unhappy period in gaol. This enchanting combination of fairy story with concrete urban reality, a tale of sacrificial love written with a flourish and swirl, turns a simple book into a gem as precious as the large red ruby that glowed on the Prince’s sword-hilt.  With an introduction by Michael Seeney, author and collector of Wilde’s work.  Sally Castle writes:  'Oscar Wilde’s story, ‘The Happy Prince’, was originally published in 1888 and is a tale about doing good deeds to help others. I began illustrating it as a personal project and decided to set the story in Reading – the town of my birth and a connection to Oscar through ‘The Ballad of Reading Gaol’. I’ve portrayed Reading’s buildings in my artwork over many years and designed public artworks that celebrate its built heritage.  After his release, Oscar Wilde was said to have remembered Reading Gaol as a sort of enchanted castle and I’ve depicted it as such in the Happy Prince’s tale. The Prince himself is based on the playing card, Jack of Hearts, who is believed to win his crown through sacrifice for love. I have a reputation for hand lettering and have set the text in a style loosely based on copperplate, written with a pen dipped in Quink ink to give the feel of a sketchbook. Perhaps this is how Oscar wrote it?'    ","brand":"Two Rivers Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39510547693646,"sku":"9781909747906","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0441\/7369\/products\/original_16c13b83-c955-48d0-af57-0a56c6a9242f.jpg?v=1752240005"},{"product_id":"empressmatilda-mystory","title":"Empress Matilda: My Story","description":"\u003cp\u003e“Greetings! I’m Matilda -- you may know me as Empress Matilda -- and I was so nearly the first Queen of England. William the Conqueror was my grandfather, and I should have succeeded my father, King Henry I. For many years I ruled in the southern counties of England and came very close to seizing the crown back from my cousin, Stephen. However, it was not to be. This is my story.”\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSo begins this colourfully illustrated book telling the story of Empress Matilda, a medieval feminist who fought to gain her rightful place as Queen of England.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWith a foreword by Lindy Grant, Professor Emerita of Medieval History at the University of Reading, and an expert in Kingship and Queenship in the High Middle Ages.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Two Rivers Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":54411419746689,"sku":"9781915048288","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0441\/7369\/files\/jpg_rgb_1500h_29cd9a7e-915f-4a5a-a6a0-6daa77e38627.jpg?v=1752239847"}],"url":"https:\/\/inpressbooks.co.uk\/collections\/sally-castle\/sally-mortimore.oembed","provider":"Inpress Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}