The next book group meeting will be on November 23rd at 6.00pm at the Old Punchbowl Inn in Warwick.  The book we are reading is “The Book of Human Skin”  by Michelle Loveric.

This is an epic novel set in 18th and 19th century Venice. It features a strange young man, Minguilo Fasan, who’s determined to destroy his younger sister.

 ’This book is fabulous – funny, horrific and subversive’   Joanne Harris

(paperback edition £7.99 with 15% discount to book group members).

If you fancy coming along to our friendly group please don’t hesitate. You’ll be more than welcome.

On Wednesday 9th November 7pm at The Methodist Church Kenilworth, The Countess of Caernarvon talked about her new book ‘Lady Almina and the Story of the Real Downton Abbey’

1.2 million people watched the first series of Downton Abbey.  A new eight-part series started in October to be followed by a Christmas special on Boxing Day.   Downton Abbey is filmed at Highclere Castle, one of England’s most exquisite Victorian castles and the home of the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon.

 Lady Fiona Carnarvon – the 8^th Countess, told an audience of just under 100 people  the remarkable story behind the real Downton Abbey. It is a story that is even more fascinating than the fiction.

In 1894, Lady Almina, the nineteen year old illegitimate daughter of banking tycoon, Alfred de Rothschild, married into the Carnarvon family bringing an enormous fortune with her.  Lonely and miserable at first, she gradually won over society and her husband with her wit, brave spirit and fabulous dresses. She presided over a staff of over 90 people at Highclere.  When the First World War came, life at Highclere changed forever and they lost many of the men whose families had worked there for generations. (The current Head Gamekeeper’s great great-grandfather was the Head Gamekeeper in Almina’s day). Lady Almina persuaded her husband to allow her to turn Highclere into a hospital for wounded soldiers and personally saw that they received the highest standard of care. She also funded and supported her husband, the 5^th Earl of Carnarvon’s expeditions to Egypt.  In 1922 he discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen.

 The book  spans the time period covered by the first two series of Downton Abbey. The second series which begins in October will focus on the Great War.

Beautifully illustrated with original photographs, recipes, seating plans and instructions to the servants, Lady Carnarvon provides a rich and fascinating insight into what life was really like at Highclere, both upstairs and downstairs.

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Unfortunately this event has had to be cancelled

On Wednesday November 23rd at 7pm

Martin Hackett will be talking about his book

‘Lost Battlefields of Britain’

at Warwick Library. This event has been arranged by

Warwick Books in conjunction with Warwick Library.

The British Isles have witnessed hundreds of battles in 2000 years of history. Some are well known, due to their far-reaching consequences, sheer scale, or the involvement of famous protagonists. Others, however, have never been properly investigated. In his book, Martin Hackett examines ten forgotten battles, covering the length and breadth of Britain and ten centuries of warfare. At Buttington in the Severn Valley, for instance, the author has identified the site of a long-lost Dark Age battlefield between Danish Vikings and their English and Welsh opponents in 893. He also reveals the secrets of St Albans, which witnessed the first battle of the Wars of the Roses, and the site of Goudhurst in Kent, where in 1747 the last battle on English soil was fought, a band of villagers against a gang of ruthless smugglers.

Martin’s talk is sure to be a fascinating one, and not to be missed by anyone with an interest in History.

Susan Hill talked about her sixth Serailler novel to an enthusiastic audience of 100 people.

Simon Serrailler is faced with that most complicated of investigations – a cold case. Freak weather and flash floods all over southern England. Half of Lafferton is afloat.

A landslip on the Moor has closed the bypass and, as the rain slowly drains away, a shallow grave – and a skeleton – are exposed. It doesn’t take long to identify the remains as those of the missing teenager, Harriet Lowther, last seen carrying a tennis racket while waiting for a bus. But that was sixteen years ago.

How long will it take to trawl through the old, stale evidence and assess it anew? The Lafferton force is struggling with staff shortages and economies, and Simon has to do a lot of the legwork on his own. Meanwhile, his sister, Dr Cat Deerbon, is fighting for extra funding for the hospice which is threatened with cuts and closures. All the Simon Serrailler novels offer more than merely a murder mystery, and “The Betrayal of Trust” is no exception: it takes a brave, truthful look at old age and the associated problems of terminal illness which, in the future, will bring our society to the brink of painful conflicts of conscience.

Susan Hill’s gifts are displayed here to dazzling effect: her empathy and understanding of the human heart, her brilliance when evoking character and her tremendous powers of exciting storytelling.

Chris Pickford will be speaking in the Great Hall of the Lord Leycester Hospital at 19.45 pm on Tuesday 1 November

The Warwickshire volume of the ‘Buildings of England’, with which Alexandra Wedgwood assisted Nikolaus Pevsner, was published in 1966. Both the buildings of the county and understanding of its architectural history have evolved hugely since then. The long process of revising Pevsner has at last reached Warwickshire, and Chris Pickford, formerly the County Archivist of Bedfordshire, has returned to his native county to take on the task. He is in the middle of his research, and the new edition, covering Warwickshire without ‘Greater Birmingham’, is not planned to be published until 2015. He will be able both to tell us about the processes of study and revision, and perhaps bring early news of discoveries about some of the buildings – though Warwick itself has not yet been reached.

This event is part of The Warwick Society’s program, but all customers of our shops are welcome to attend free of charge.