Esther Freud & Maggie Gee

Two of Britain’s most celebrated novelists come to The Portico Library for what is sure to be a fascinating evening of readings and literary discussion. The author of seven novels including Love Falls and Lucky Break, Esther Freud will be reading from her eagerly anticipated new book, Mr Mac and Me. In 1914 Suffolk, Thomas Maggs’ quiet life is interrupted by the arrival of a mysterious Scotsman – the architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh – and the two men forge an unlikely friendship on the home front. Ann Patchett called it ‘as close to a perfect novel as anything I’ve read in a long time.’ Maggie Gee’s Virginia Woolf in Manhattan starts with an author researching the Bloomsbury writer’s work – only to have her subject appear and wreak havoc upon her life. Gee is the author of eleven acclaimed novels, including The White Family (shortlisted for the Orange and IMPAC prizes) and My Driver, and was described by the Sunday Times as ‘one of our most ambitious and challenging novelists.’ Doors will be open from 6pm and drinks available.