THERE aren't, to be honest, that many bestselling novels set in Bishopthorpe. Fewer still are about Bishopthorpe GPs. And Bishopthorpe GPs who also happen to be vampires?

That's the intriguing and rather startling premise of Matt Haig's 2010 novel The Radleys.

As you'd expect from the author of books such as The Humans and How To Stop Time, the vampires in Matt's book are no ordinary blood-suckers. They're 'abstainers' - vampires who have sworn off the hard stuff. Father Peter, a Bishopthorpe GP, and his wife Helen both refuse to drink human blood because they think it's wrong. And they haven't even told their two teenagers - one of whom, Clara, is a vegan - about their true nature.

But the hunger for blood is an addiction for this vampire family. And what happens when you try to suppress one of those?...

Peter Radley, it perhaps need not be said, was not actually based on any real Bishopthorpe GPs. And in fact, the Bishopthorpe in Matt's book differs quite a lot from the real one. The author lived in Fulford when he wrote The Radleys. And the Bishopthorpe he created was an amalgam of bits of Fulford's Main Street, Bishopthorpe itself, and also a couple of unnamed North Yorkshire villages.

It is still instantly familiar (vegan vampires apart) to anyone who lives in York, however. Which makes it a great choice for this year's Big City Read, which aims to get everyone reading and talking about the same book at the same time.

From September 21 onwards, 5,000 copies of The Radleys will be given away free from city libraries and elsewhere.

"We're thrilled that Matt has accepted our invitation to be our Big City Read author," said Fiona Williams, chief executive of Explore York. "We're planning some fantastic events to celebrate the themes of the book and the power of reading."

This year's Big City Read will also include live performances of a specially-commissioned play - Surpise Ending - in all York's libraries and reading cafés.

A full Big City Read brochure will be available on August 1.