About

Mr B's Emporium is absolutely delighted to welcome author Rhett Davis, all the way from Australia, to chat to them about his first novel published in the UK, Arborescence.

There are few novels that will sweep across the Mr B's team, causing such a stir months ahead of publication, but Arborescence is one of them. Booksellers Soffi and Katrina have become completely obsessed with this deeply moving and uncanny dystopia about humans turning into trees. Soffi says "It's hard to capture the full impact of this book in a few sentences: it's wholly imaginative, colourful, melancholic, nuanced, romantic, hopeful and hurtful."

They hope you'll join us for this special evening as they welcome Rhett to the Mr B's shop, and chat to him about what is shaping up to already be one of their team's books of the year for 2026!

About the book

What makes a person want to be a tree?

Bren and his partner Caelyn are feeling at a standstill in their lives. One day, they come across a video of people in the forest who believe that if they stand still for long enough, they will transform into trees. The idea is absurd.

But it's spreading. Soon, people start to go missing and trees appear in unlikely places. As cities decay and the world becomes greener, Caelyn becomes more and more convinced that arborescence is exactly what will save the planet from human destruction.

Bren isn't so sure. Drifting apart, Bren and Caelyn are forced to question what it really means to be human – and if they are ready to stand still.

As absurd as it is utterly convincing, this is a book about holding onto love in a world of seismically shifting reality. In other words, a book about us, a book about now. It's brilliant ― Shaun Tan

You will not be able to stop thinking about this extraordinary book. A thrilling page-turner for our times, that both chills and provokes ― Sophie Ward

Tickets

All tickets include 15% off any books purchased on the night, a glass of wine or soft drink, author talk, Q&A and signing.

Book+Ticket £16.99
Standard Ticket £8.00
Student Ticket £7.00