The Woman in White, Love in a Cold Climate, Atonement: Skulduggery, sex and violence. All was not always well behind the facades of the English County House…

‘I will have but one mistress here and no master’ Queen Elizabeth the First, What does it mean to be mistress of a country house? How do heroines in novels adapt to this demanding role? In novels, the ‘mistress’ of the country house is as likely to be bullied, bypassed or manipulated, as she is […]

By the 20th Century the strain of keeping up the country house was beginning to tell on their owners and novels reflect this. More and more novels explore the pressures created through war, taxation and changing social structures and expectations, through the extended metaphor of the dilapidated country house. Books to discuss include: Brideshead Revisited, […]

‘I should warn you that this is a very strange house, even I know very little about it.’ Professor Kirk, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis
How many of us first discovered the magic and mysteries of the literary country house through children’s books? They were new worlds in their own right and, sometimes, the portal to worlds even further away. They could be beautiful, menacing, life-affirming and very funny. Enjoy a nostalgic day rereading extracts from some old favourites and pondering relationships between the country houses in children’s novels and those in novels for ‘grown-ups’.
Books to discuss include: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Secret Garden, The Just William series, The Little White Horse

Please note that this event begins at 10am and finishes at 3pm.