Daunt Books

Ann Widdecombe
Strictly Ann
Tuesday, 18th June
Daunt Books Marylebone High Street

Emily's Walking Book Club
Tender is the Night
Sunday 23rd June
Daunt Books South End Road

Robert Twigger
Red Nile
Monday, 24th of June
Daunt Books Marylebone High Street

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• Ann Widdecombe
  
  Strictly Ann
  

  Tuesday, 18th June at 7pm at Daunt Books Marylebone High Street From her early family life in Singapore and her convent school days to her student ambitions at Birmingham and Oxford, and her long-serving years as an MP, this is the life story of one of our most outspoken and celebrated politicians. Offering unique insight into her time as a Minister in three Departments and the Shadow Cabinet in the 1990s, Ann also explains the roots of her conversion to Catholicism in 1993 and her deeply held views against abortion and gay marriage. Her memoirs reveal a singular personality who lives life to the full. From feisty and witty appearances on Have I Got News For You to her unforgettable and star-turning performances on Strictly Come Dancing, Ann has earned her place in the public's affections and has been heralded as a 'national living treasure' by the Guardian. Tickets are £8. They may be purchased from our Marylebone shop in person, or with credit/debit card by telephone (020 7224 2295) or here online.

• Emily's Walking Book Club reads
  
  Tender is the Night
  

  Sunday 23rd June at 11.30am at our shop on South End Road Join other book-lovers for a walk on Hampstead Heath to discuss F. Scott Fitzgerald's haunting last novel Tender is the Night. Dick and Nicole Diver are a glamorous, alluring couple, who shine against the heady backdrop of the 1920s French Riviera. The veneer of a perfect marriage begins to crack, however, when young actress Rosemary Hoyt falls under their spell, and the dark disquieting truths at its foundation come to light. Inspired in part by Fitzgerald's own troubled marriage, Tender is the Night is a heartbreaking masterpiece. 'He has an acute eye and ear for the nuances of character... an exquisitely crafted piece of fiction.' -Independent 'A powerful fable for our times.' -Guardian Please join us at our shop on South End Road on Sunday 23rd June at 11.30

  (Children, friends and dogs are all very welcome!)
  Daunt Books Hampstead, 51 South End Road, NW3
  (020 7794 8206) hampstead@dauntbooks.co.uk

• Robert Twigger
  
  Red Nile
  

  Monday, 24th of June at 7pm in Daunt Books Marylebone High Street So much begins on the banks of the Nile: all religion, all life, all stories, the script we write in, the language we speak, the gods, the legends and the names of stars. This mighty river that flows through a quarter of all Africa has been history's greatest and most sustained creator. In this dazzling, idiosyncratic journey from ancient times to the Arab Spring, Robert Twigger weaves a Nile narrative like no other. Along the way we meet crocodiles and caliphs, nineteenth-century adventurers and twentieth-century novelists, biblical prophets and classical lovers, dam-builders and crusaders. As he navigates a meandering course through the history of the world's greatest river, he plucks the most intriguing, colourful and dramatic stories - truly a Nile red in tooth and claw. Tickets are £8. They may be purchased from our Marylebone shop in person, or with credit/debit card by telephone (020 7224 2295) or here online. To buy the book click here.

• Gillian Tindall
  
  Three Houses, Many Lives
  

  Monday, 24th of June at 7pm at St Peter's Church, Belsize Square, NW3 4HJ With a detective's forensic patience and the narrative ear of a novelist, Tindall unpicks the histories of these houses, seething with the loves and hopes and disappointments of the people to whom, like Tindall herself, they were beloved familiar places" - Jane Schilling, Telegraph People, real people - not boring, stupid giggling, bullying girls or lying teachers - had lived here once." So thought 13-year-old Gillian Tindall about her Surrey boarding school. For her delightful book Three Houses, Many Lives, Tindall's curiosity inspired her to delve into the past of this house, uncovering the fascinating stories of its former residents. She also turns her meticulous eye to a Cotswold vicarage and a London Jacobean house, discovering stories embedded in these houses that represent the changing face of England over four centuries. In examining the effect on the lives of the houses inhabitants, Tindall achieves a subtle, delicate exploration of national phenomena, such as the building of the railways and the growth of cities. Gillian Tindall is a prize-winning novelist and historian, who lives in Kentish Town. Her previous books include The Fields Beneath, which is a history of Kentish Town, The House by the Thames, Celestine: Voices from a French Village, and Footprints in Paris. Tickets are £5, which includes a glass of wine. They may be purchased from our Belsize Park shop in person, or with credit/debit card by telephone (020 7794 4006). All proceeds from ticket sales will go towards supporting St Peter's Church and local charities.

• -Sold Out- David Sedaris -Sold Out-
  
  Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls
  

  Wednesday 26th June at 6.45pm in Daunt Books Fulham Road A reading by the author followed by a Q and A session. From the unique perspective of David Sedaris comes a new collection of essays taking readers on a bizarre and stimulating world tour. From the perils of French dentistry to the squat style toilets of Beijing, we learn about the absurdity and delight of a curious traveller's experiences. This event is now sold out.

• Robert Edsel
  
  Saving Italy
  

  Wednesday, 3rd July at 7pm in Daunt Books Marylebone High Street Tickets are £8. They may be purchased from our Marylebone shop in person, or with credit/debit card by telephone (020 7224 2295) or click here.

• Hamid Dabashi & Pankaj Mishra
  
  Arab Spring & From the Ruins of Empire

  
  
  Wednesday, 3rd July at 7 pm in Daunt Books Fulham Road
  

  
  Two of Asia's foremost historians discuss their latest titles. Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, Hamid Dabashi has produced a pioneering exploration of the Arab Spring that will define a new era of thinking about the middle east whilst Pankaj Mishra's From the Ruins of Empire is a provocative account of how China, India and the Muslim world are remaking the world in their own image. Mishra writes literary and political essays for the New York Times, the New York Review of Books, The Guardian, the New Yorker, London Review of Books, Bloomberg View, among other American, British, and Indian publications.
  
  This is guaranteed to be a meeting of two of the finest minds working on Asia, Islam and global politics today.

  Tickets are £5 and may be purchased from our Fulham Road shop in person, or with credit/debit card by telephone (0207 373 4997)

• Eleanor Farjeon
  
  Read by Anne Harvey and Piers Plowright
  

  Thursday 11th July at 7pm at Keats House   Anne Harvey and Piers Plowright will read from and discuss the remarkable work of Hampstead writer Eleanor Farjeon. Eleanor Farjeon (1881-1965) had her first book of poetry published in 1908. She went on to write over 80 books of poetry, drama, novels, essays and short stories, winning three major awards. In a long literary life she numbered among her friends, D.H. Lawrence, Robert Frost, Walter de la Mare and most notably, Edward Thomas. She was one his closest collaborators at the time he wrote his greatest poems and his death in the First World War spurred her to some of her finest poetry in the poignant sonnets touching on her grief. Her wonderfully diverse work connects with childhood, literature, Hampstead locations, as well as her love of the countryside. Anne Harvey - poet, broadcaster and Fellow of the Society of Speech and Drama - is the executor of the Farjeon Estate. She has edited over 30 anthologies of poetry and drama for adults and children, including the latest edition of Edward Thomas: The Last Four Years. In Like Sorrow or a Tune, Anne introduces a new selection of Farjeon's writing for both adults and children, reflecting its originality, wit and depth of feeling. Piers Plowright, born in 1937, is an award-winning playwright and documentarian who experienced Farjeon’s wisdom, love of stories and sense of fun first-hand during his childhood. Piers was made a Fellow of The Royal Society of Literature in 1998. Talks take place at Keats House, Keats Grove, NW3 Tickets are £5 (including wine). Ticket holders are invited to take the opportunity to look around Keats House from 6.30pm until the talk begins at 7pm. They may be purchased from our South End Road shop in person, or with credit/debit card by telephone (0207 794 8206).