Operation Timber Sycamore

John Grisham takes you back to where it all began… In Sycamore Row, John Grisham returns to the setting and the compelling characters that first established him as America's favorite storyteller. Here, in his most assured and thrilling novel yet, is a powerful testament to the fact that Grisham remains the master of the legal thriller, nearly twenty-five years after the publication of A Time to Kill.

You could be forgiven for missing Fionn Regan's third long-player in the release schedules. Unlike his previous set, 2010's The Shadow of an Empire, this arrives with relatively little fanfare, a result of the Bray-born singer's retreat from the mainstream five years on from his Mercury-nominated debut, The End of History. Said disc was an understated delight, but its follow-up favoured amplification over introspection, and its troubled gestation produced an underwhelming collection. But 100 Acres of Sycamore finds Regan returning to the acoustic prettiness of his first album, embellishments restricted to gently swelling strings rather than distracting bombast.

Follow the race to rebuild the Blenheim Covered Bridge in New York State, an icon of 19th century American engineering. More than 15,000 wooden covered bridges once spanned the rivers of forested regions of the U.S., linking communities and opening up land for pioneering farmers. Built in 1855, the Blenheim structure was the longest single span covered bridge in the world until Hurricane Irene destroyed it in 2011. Watch a team of elite bridge builders and engineers faithfully reproduce the intricate timber structure under grueling time pressure - they must rebuild and move it on to new foundations before spring floods destroy their worksite.

The Sycamore is a collective that was born in 2015 from the idea of a group of friends to explore with freshness the sounds of a medium-large formation; the creativity of the components and the exchange of ideas therefore have a central role in the economy of the group. The sextet performed at Umbria Jazz 2017 as a finalist in the international competition "Conad Jazz Contest" in which it won the first prize of the Popular Jury. For the occasion, they will present material from their debut album "Seamless".

In Sycamore Row, John Grisham returns to the setting and the compelling characters that first established him as America's favorite storyteller. Here, in his most assured and thrilling novel yet, is a powerful testament to the fact that Grisham remains the master of the legal thriller, nearly twenty-five years after the publication of A Time to Kill.