A NEW NATIVITY adaptation set in Malvern has been written by town author Philippa Lowe, a local member of the town’s St Matthias Church, writes Amy Ford.
‘The Angels of Malvern Link’ tells the story of two children from the local Primary School who are performing the Nativity in the church.
After the vicar mentioned he had always wanted a book to use at Christmas time, Philippa got to work.
Her main aim was to write a book which had a real community feel to it, hence why the local school, church and even the church mice are featured.
She said: “It features some of our traditions, such as inviting the school in to hold their nativity play and the nativity characters that we display in our porch, as well as our three ‘Mouseman’ mice, which are carved into our church.
“It reminds people what Christmas is all about and also places the church at the centre of the community.
“Hopefully those who read it will want to come into St Matthias to discover the mice for themselves.”
Philippa worked with local illustrator Sophie Dainty to create the pictures for the book, having seen her work on the Hereford College’s website.
She added: “This is Sophie’s first commission since graduating and her style is absolutely perfect for what we wanted.”
Sophie’s pictured added ‘exceptional detail’ such as the hidden mice on each page and the illustrator even included herself as a Christmas tree – a part she played herself when she was at school.
‘The Angels of Malvern Link’ is a perfect Christmas present and it is being sold online and in the local bookshop for £6.
Visit https://mlwc.church/ to buy the book.
