Prue Leith & Peta Leith
Saturday 22nd February, 7.30pm
Prue Leith has been at the top of the British food scene for nearly sixty years. She founded the renowned Leiths School of Food and Wine, and is a Michelin-starred chef, caterer, restaurateur, teacher, TV cook, food journalist, novelist, and cookery book author. Well known as a judge on The Great British Menu, she is […] See more »
Reading Group – Redburn by Herman Melville
Monday 9th March, 7.30pm
Inspired by the Melville’s own teenage voyage in across the Atlantic to Liverpool, Redburn, opens as a jaunty sea adventure before developing in unexpected – and sometimes startling – ways, as the young narrator undergoes a rapid initiation into the world of adulthood. Remarkable for its combination of harsh realism and buoyant humour, the book […] See more »
Reading Group – the Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins
Monday 9th March, 7.30pm
London 1826. Frannie Langton, maid to Mr and Mrs Benham, is on trial for their murder; the testimonies against her are damning. But are they the truth? Wide Sargasso Sea meets Beloved meets Alias Grace‘ Margaret Atwood See more »
Joanna Trollope
Tuesday 10th March, 7.30pm
‘What a mess, she thought now . . . what a bloody, unholy mess the whole family has got itself into.’ Sunday Times number one bestseller Joanna Trollope explores the issues at the heart of a modern family with her trademark wit and warmth, in Mum & Dad. It’s been twenty-five years since Gus and Monica left […] See more »
Natasha Pulley
Wednesday 11th March, 7.30pm
It’s time to step back into the enchanting, mesmerising and unexpected world of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street. Natasha Pulley’s extraordinary sequel takes readers to Japan, where time, destiny and love collide to electrifying effect. Natasha, alumna of Soham Village College and UEA, won a Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the Authors’ Club […] See more »
Jim Kelly
Thursday 12th March, 7.30pm
A lone German bomber crosses the East coast of Britain on a moonless night in the long hot summer of 1940. The pilot picks up the silver thread of a river and following it to his target, drops his bomb over Cambridge’s rail yards. The shell falls short of its mark, and lands in a […] See more »
Paul Lay
Thursday 19th March, 7.30pm
‘A compelling and wry narrative of one of the most intellectually thrilling eras of British history’ Guardian England, 1651. Oliver Cromwell has defeated his royalist opponents in two civil wars, executed the Stuart king Charles I, laid waste to Ireland, and crushed the late king’s son and his Scottish allies. He is master of Britain […] See more »
James Martin
Friday 3rd April, 7.30pm
James Martin brings the Islands and Highlands to Ely Since going on his Great British Adventure in 2019, James Martin has taken to the road again (and the sea and skies, too!) to bring us more of his favourite stunning – and occasionally remote – locations around the UK. It’s another inspiring culinary journey for fans […] See more »
Reading Group – Drive your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
Monday 13th April, 7.30pm
In a remote Polish village, Janina Duszejko, an eccentric woman in her sixties, recounts the events surrounding the disappearance of her two dogs. She is reclusive, preferring the company of animals to people; she’s unconventional, believing in the stars; and she is fond of the poetry of William Blake. When members of a local hunting […] See more »
Reading Group: Junichiro Tanizaki – Some Prefer Nettles
Monday 13th April, 7.30pm
Some Prefer Nettles by Junichiro Tanizaki In the 1920s, a Japanese family face problems of internal strife, as well as challenges brought about by the steadily encroaching influence of the West upon their beliefs and lifestyle. One of master novelist Tanizaki’s finest and most approachable works, Some Prefer Nettles is a characteristically sharp, quirky and insightful social comedy unfolding against a […] See more »
Robert Webb
Thursday 30th April, 7.30pm
You can’t fall in love for the first time twice … Come Again – Robert Webb’s debut novel – a time-travelling story of love and adventure from the number one bestselling author of How Not To Be a Boy and star of Peep Show. Kate’s husband Luke – the man she loved from the moment she met […] See more »
Alison Weir
Thursday 28th May, 7.15pm
A naive young woman at the mercy of her ambitious family At just nineteen, Katheryn Howard is quick to trust and fall in love. She comes to court. She sings, she dances. She captures the heart of the King. Henry declares she is his rose without a thorn. But Katheryn has a past of which […] See more »