The Moon is Making by Storm Jameson, a Manderley Press edition 2026, introduced by Maxine Peake and illustrated by Alice Pattullo
The Moon is Making by Storm Jameson, a Manderley Press edition 2026, introduced by Maxine Peake and illustrated by Alice Pattullo

The Moon is Making

£22.99

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Manderley Press is delighted to announce the publication of The Moon is Making - an epic novel by Storm Jameson, set in and inspired by the author’s hometown of Whitby, North Yorkshire.

This brand new edition is introduced by the acclaimed actor and writer Maxine Peake, and the new cover has been designed by the renowned illustrator Alice Pattullo, both of whom hail from the North of England.

The Moon is Making is a bleak, unsettling and psychologically charged portrait of a fractured coastal community. Through the lens of the Wikker family – whose moral decline and eventual ruin is the focus of the novel – it explores class division and emotional alienation, all set against the stark backdrop of the socially divided town of Whitby at the turn of the twentieth century. 

But despite all this, the book is also a love letter to the North of England, and to Whitby, and its enduring dramatic appeal to writers, artists and musicians (think Bram Stoker, Elizabeth Gaskell, Wilkie Collins, Michel Faber and Kate Atkinson, not to mention folk music, the artist Dame Laura Knight, the fabulous actor Sam Barnett, and of course, modern Goth culture).  

“The Moon Is Making ranks very close to the top in the lengthening list of Storm Jameson's novels. It is superior in technical skill ... and dramatic power. Manifestly, Miss Jameson is a writer worth watching…”
- The New York Times, 1938

Storm Jameson (1891-1986) was a well-known figure in literary circles during the early twentieth century, writing a staggering number of novels, memoirs, biographies, articles, short stories, and even plays.

But she was never part of the Bloomsbury Group, or even on its fringes: she was from an entirely different background altogether. Storm was a Northern writer, born into a tough ship-building background in Whitby rather than a literary family. And yet, she was the first woman to be awarded a first-class degree in English from Leeds University; and she was an activist and a committed socialist throughout her life. 

In 1920 she wrote that she “had a duty to engage with and reflect on the issues of its day” and put this into practise, serving as the President of English PEN throughout World War Two (during which time she helped hundreds of refugee writers and their families to flee occupied Europe). 

Storm's work was highly praised in her lifetime, and she was a well-known figure working alongside H.G. Wells, E.M. Forster and Rebecca West. But her writing and her achievements have been largely forgotten by critics and readers more recently. 

As the publisher, and a fellow Whitby-ite, I am passionate about bringing her work back to life for a new generation of readers, celebrating her Northern roots, her socialist values, and above all, her searingly brilliant writing.

*

Each book ordered through the website is wrapped in tissue paper and secured with a silk ribbon, free of charge - and also includes an exclusive bookmark designed to complement the cover design.

STOP PRESS This title is now in stock!

Manderley Press is delighted to announce the publication of The Moon is Making - an epic novel by Storm Jameson, set in and inspired by the author’s hometown of Whitby, North Yorkshire.

This brand new edition is introduced by the acclaimed actor and writer Maxine Peake, and the new cover has been designed by the renowned illustrator Alice Pattullo, both of whom hail from the North of England.

The Moon is Making is a bleak, unsettling and psychologically charged portrait of a fractured coastal community. Through the lens of the Wikker family – whose moral decline and eventual ruin is the focus of the novel – it explores class division and emotional alienation, all set against the stark backdrop of the socially divided town of Whitby at the turn of the twentieth century. 

But despite all this, the book is also a love letter to the North of England, and to Whitby, and its enduring dramatic appeal to writers, artists and musicians (think Bram Stoker, Elizabeth Gaskell, Wilkie Collins, Michel Faber and Kate Atkinson, not to mention folk music, the artist Dame Laura Knight, the fabulous actor Sam Barnett, and of course, modern Goth culture).  

“The Moon Is Making ranks very close to the top in the lengthening list of Storm Jameson's novels. It is superior in technical skill ... and dramatic power. Manifestly, Miss Jameson is a writer worth watching…”
- The New York Times, 1938

Storm Jameson (1891-1986) was a well-known figure in literary circles during the early twentieth century, writing a staggering number of novels, memoirs, biographies, articles, short stories, and even plays.

But she was never part of the Bloomsbury Group, or even on its fringes: she was from an entirely different background altogether. Storm was a Northern writer, born into a tough ship-building background in Whitby rather than a literary family. And yet, she was the first woman to be awarded a first-class degree in English from Leeds University; and she was an activist and a committed socialist throughout her life. 

In 1920 she wrote that she “had a duty to engage with and reflect on the issues of its day” and put this into practise, serving as the President of English PEN throughout World War Two (during which time she helped hundreds of refugee writers and their families to flee occupied Europe). 

Storm's work was highly praised in her lifetime, and she was a well-known figure working alongside H.G. Wells, E.M. Forster and Rebecca West. But her writing and her achievements have been largely forgotten by critics and readers more recently. 

As the publisher, and a fellow Whitby-ite, I am passionate about bringing her work back to life for a new generation of readers, celebrating her Northern roots, her socialist values, and above all, her searingly brilliant writing.

*

Each book ordered through the website is wrapped in tissue paper and secured with a silk ribbon, free of charge - and also includes an exclusive bookmark designed to complement the cover design.

Margaret Storm Jameson was born in 1891 into a seafaring family in Whitby, North Yorkshire. She was the first woman to earn a first-class degree in English from Leeds University, and went on to complete an MA in European Drama at King's College London. She became a central voice in twentieth-century literature, publishing 48 novels, three autobiographies and several plays. She also served as President of English PEN during the Second World War, setting up a fund to save refugee writers trapped in Europe. Her work reflected her lifelong commitment to social justice, international cooperation and anti-fascism, and her writing was thus inspired by (and set in) a range of European destinations, from Paris to Cyprus and Prague to Budapest, as well as Yorkshire, of course. Her son William (‘Bill’) was born in 1914, during her first marriage to schoolmaster Charles Douglas Clarke. Following her divorce in 1925, she would marry Guy Chapman, a fellow author. A true cosmopolitan, Storm was happiest when travelling and retained a lifelong devotion to the North Sea. She died in Cambridge in 1986.

Maxine Peake was born and raised in Bolton, Greater Manchester and is one of the UK’s best-loved actors. Her film credits include Peterloo, The Theory of Everything, Funny Cow and Woken. She is also well known for starring in TV dramas such as Silk, Black Mirror: Metalhead, Three Girls, The Village, Shameless and Say Nothing, among many others. Maxine’s stage credits include Hamlet, A Streetcar Named Desire, Happy Days, Avalanche and Talking Heads. She has received three BAFTA Best Actress nominations, and is also an established writer, often portraying strong female voices and Northern English stories in her plays: Beryl (which tells the remarkable true story of unsung Northern champion cyclist Beryl Burton), Queens of the Coal Age (an account of the four women who occupied a coal pit in the North over Easter weekend in 1993), The Last Testament of Lillian Bilocca (based on the true story of Lillian Bilocca, a housewife from Hull who campaigned for improved fishing safety) and Betty! (a “sort of musical” celebrating the life of Yorkshire politician Betty Boothroyd, first female speaker of the House of Commons).

Alice Pattullo is an illustrator from Newcastle Upon Tyne who is now based in East London. She works on a variety of commissions for clients including Gardens Illustrated, Batsford, Country Living, Crabtree and Evelyn, Design for Today, Faber, Kew Gardens, Fortnum and Mason, Quarto, Little Toller, Selvedge, The Victoria and Albert Museum and The Village Voice. Alice also makes screen prints to exhibit and sell (when there is time!). She was brought up in the North-East, with regular holidays to Whitby, where she stayed in a house nestled just below the Abbey in the East Cliff of the town. She loves reading novels, so particularly enjoys designing book covers like this one, which includes many of the Whitby landmarks featured in The Moon is Making. Alice regularly explores British customs, sayings, rhymes, folklore and superstitions in her personal work, and so was especially enraptured and inspired by the "Hand of Glory" in Whitby Museum (one of her first prints upon graduating featured this iconic exhibit).