Literature at Lunch – Virginia Woolf’s ‘To the Lighthouse’

[ October 7, 2010; 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm. ] Dr Jane Mackay
12 noon

‘To the Lighthouse’ is a landmark novel of high modernism, centering on the Ramsay family and their visits to the Isle of Skye in Scotland between 1910 and 1920, skillfully manipulating temporality and psychological exploration.

To the Lighthouse follows and extends the tradition of modernist novelists like Marcel Proust and James Joyce, where [...]

Stalin Ate My Homework – Alexei Sayle

[ October 8, 2010; 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm. ] Friday 8 October

Alexei Sayle gives an entertaining and exclusive glimpse of his brand new memoir Stalin Ate My Homework, with stories and readings from the book and an opportunity to ask questions.

Born in Liverpool on the day egg rationing came to an end, Sayle always knew his parents were different. They ate salad, read the [...]

An Audience with Peter Snow – To War with Wellington

[ November 6, 2010; 12:30 am to 9:30 pm. ] Enjoy an entertaining evening with presenter and writer Peter Snow discussing the highlights of the Duke of Wellington’s battle with Napoleonic France.

Most famously known for his highly visual reporting on ‘Newsnight’ using the ‘swingometer’ during elections, Peter Snow can bring to life the driest of topics.  Now, following the success of his books and TV [...]

Literature at Lunchtime – ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’

[ December 2, 2010; 12:00 pm; ] Lit at Lunch with Dr Jane Mackay
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’
Thursday 2 December – 12 noon

Abraham Lincoln thought that this book, essentially an anti-slavery novel, started the American Civil War.  Focusing on the character of Uncle Tom, a long-suffering black slave, it was the first American novel to become a best seller.  However, from [...]

Literature at Lunchtime – Henry James ‘The Turn of the Screw’

[ November 4, 2010; 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm. ] £5.50 / £5.00 concessions

‘The Turn of the Screw’ is a great horror story for this time of year, written by the absolute master of psychological exploration in fiction.  It’s also a story that may or may not have ghosts!  When a governess is charged with looking after two orphaned children on a country estate, the [...]