In a bookless library, Tales lie untold and fading. Goaded by a single printed page, they set out on a quest to discover their purpose. They bicker over their nature. How is their purpose influenced by human existence? Or are they the ones who influence human existence just in their telling?

On their journey, they find echoes of themselves in the lives they encounter in the human world. Unshackled by logical and physical conditions, they hear human thoughts without distress or judgement.

As the Tales tell themselves, they are both alarmed and transformed by the telling.

The Tales' quest leads them to fulfilment, to a dénouement worthy of their pilgrimage - and to one final sting in the Tale.

About the Author: Gillian Shimwell has a long-standing involvement in folk history and community drama, that began in the 1980s. In 2010, she began performance storytelling and studying folklore. She has written and directed plays including a promenade production of Jane Eyre at Haddon Hall in Derbyshire in 2017. She was a founder member of Bakewell-based Writers in the Peak, and has contributed to several local and folk history collections. Talefade is her first solo collection.