Kenilworth Books Literary Weekend
Kenilworth Books had an excellent weekend of Meet The Author events during March. As well as visits from a number of Shire authors at the shop there were two talks from top historians.
First of all on the Friday Anna Hallett called at the shop to chat to customers about her book on Markets and Market Places, and this was followed by Sally Badham who discussed her area of expertise – Monumental Brasses. On the Saturday we were delighted to welcome two more Shire authors – Twigs Way who has produced a range of titles including those on Allotments, Garden Gnomes and Topiary, and then Sarah Jane Downing who has written on The English Pleasure Garden and Fashion in Times of Jane Austen. Shire produce such quirky little books that it is always a pleasure,a nd a revelation, to meet the authors who write for them. Great fun.
On Saturday evening we had a terrific event at Kenilworth Library. Juliet Barker who was responsible for the Chart-topping best-seller ‘Agincourt’, popular everywhere apart from France(!), was here to talk about her follow-up to that book Conquest which carries the story further and describes the ups and downs of the period when the English King also ruled in France. Virtually nothing has been written about these exciting times and it was a great privilege to see the results of Juliet’s hard work in the archives. She mined them to great effect and we learned about the preparation that had to go into mounting large campaigns, the relationships between the chief protagonists, and lots of absolutely fascinating stuff on how the English managed in France without maps, what was the procedure for extracting an arrowhead from someone’s face, how the geese all over the Kingdom were denuded, and lots more. There are some well-known historians who only use secondary sources, and their work is essentially a re-telling. Juliet’s on the other hand is refreshingly original. It was a real privilege to be there.
Sunday evening saw us in The Stables at Kenilworth Castle which was an entirely appropriate venue for the talk given by Chris Skidmore on Death and the Virgin his book on the relationship between Dudley Earl of Leicester, his wife, and Queen Elizabeth I. Whilst everyone was absolutlely fascinated by the background painted by Chris on these glittering times, it was when he got to the new piece of evidence that he had found on Amy’s murder – the original coroner’s report, that we all became riveted. The plight of Amy Robsart, Dudley’s wife, who was found dead at the bottom of a very short flight of stairs, freeing him then to pursue his relationship with Elizabeth, has always been one of the great Tudor mysteries. Thanks again to Chris’ deep researches with colleagues into original archive material, he was able to dispel the possibility that it was an accident, and point to a murder and even the potential murderers. Thrilling detective work enthralled us all.
We do urge all our customers to keep in touch with our programme of events, and not to miss the visits of authors of similar renown and quality. We are very lucky indeed to be able to put on such a terrific series of ‘Meet The Auhor’ events throughout the year. It can only take place with your support.
