We are thrilled to welcome bestselling author Sarah Vaughan to Deansgate, celebrating the paperback release of Based on a True Story.

When a mysterious email surfaces threatening to expose a decades-long lie, children’s author Eleanor Kingman must think fast to avoid ruin in this unputdownable thriller from the bestselling author of Anatomy of a Scandal.

Vaughan joins fellow author Caroline Hulse to discuss this compelling pschodrama and answer audience questions, followed by a signing.

Doors at 6pm. Ticket with Book option inlcudes a copy of Based on a True Story (RRP. £9.99) to be collected at the event.

For any queries regarding accessibility, please get in touch with us in advance by emailing events.manchester@waterstones.com to let us know how we can support your visit.

About Based on a True Story

All families have secrets. But it’s the lies that can kill.

A lavish 70th birthday party. A body found on a storm-lashed beach. And a secret that someone is dying to tell…

Famed children’s author Dame Eleanor Kingman has summoned her family and friends to her exquisite manor house on the cliffs. They’re celebrating her birthday – and her latest number one bestseller in her series of books based on a mother fox and her cubs.

But the night before the party, Eleanor receives an email: an email that threatens to expose the lie she’s kept up for over half a century.

Someone knows her secret. Is it her estranged literary agent? Is it her ex-husband, to whom she no longer speaks? Is it the nanny she fired all those years ago, who always did have a knack for storytelling? Or is it one of her three daughters, all of whom have a stake in the publishing empire she has built…

With a TV crew arriving to film a documentary of her life, Eleanor needs to find out who sent the email – and preserve her multimillion-pound career.

But when push comes to shove, and it’s time to tell the truth – will anyone actually believe her?

About the Author

Sarah Vaughan is the million-copy bestselling author of six novels, which have been translated into twenty-eight languages. Brought up in Devon, she read English at Oxford and went on to become a journalist. After training at the Press Association, Sarah spent eleven years at the Guardian as a news reporter, political correspondent and health correspondent, before leaving to freelance and write fiction. Her previous novels include Anatomy of a Scandal, an instant international bestseller translated into twenty-six languages and adapted for a major Netflix series in 2022. Sarah’s fourth novel, Little Disasters, has recently come to screen starring Diane Kruger, airing on Paramount+ in 2025. Based on a True Story is Sarah’s sixth novel.