Crowdfunding campaign for story of first woman to become sole licensee

The book, which is currently looking for funding on Unbound and is titled 'The Last Landlady', will trace the life of Thompson’s grandmother as well as exploring the history and future of English pubs.

On her crowdfunding page Thompson describes her grandmother as ‘one of the great landladies.’

“I spent part of my childhood in her little pub in the rural Home Counties, and was mesmerized by her quasi-theatrical gift. She generated that enclosing yet liberating pub atmosphere, the one that reflected our national character: the stoical humour, the craving for clannishness, the relish for a downbeat kind of glamour, the jokey attitude to sin, the sentimentality and the fleeting aggression.

"As she grew older, she recognized – with characteristic pragmatism - that pubs such as hers were a dying breed. Perhaps the world around them has simply changed too much. Yet they still hold their treasured place in our consciousness.”

All supporters will have their name printed in every edition of the book, those who donate over £100 will be offered a ‘Soho stroll’ round three iconic pubs in the area (the French House, the Blue Posts and the Old Coffee House) and those who donate over £2,000 will have their names printed in the front of every copy.