AMY JEFFS - ARTHUR: A NEW LIFE

Amy will be in conversation discussing her new book Arthur: A New Life

Saturday 10th October

7pm

Assembly Room - Malmesbury Town Hall.

Tickets £10 or free when you pre-order the book ( Hardback RRP £30)

Arthur: A New Life mines the deepest roots of a story we think we all know: the legend of King Arthur. Many of the much-loved elements are included – the sword in the stone, the magical construction of Stonehenge, Guinevere his queen, the wounded Arthur spirited by Morgan to the Isle of Avalon – but readers will also meet tales from the Middle Ages’ lesser-known Arthurian sources. These old stories awaken a new Arthur: a larger-than-life warlord, a hero raised by fairies, a leader of the wild hunt, a ferocious monster-slayer, an Emperor of Rome. The familiar Arthurian canon of courtly knights and chivalric romance derives mostly from Thomas Malory’s 15th century Le Morte D’Arthur. For centuries before Malory, older, wilder stories were told and Amy Jeffs here revives this corpus of all but forgotten lore. Within these pages we meet demon lovers, werewolves, Arthur’s sister Anna, a giant cloaked in the beards of his slain foes, a Scottish army of dog-headed men, Greek fire and an Irish king transformed into a boar. In her lively and erudite commentaries Amy examines those sources and their transmission, as well as the uses medieval and later monarchs and power players made of them. Among other histories, she traces the fascinating Arthurian connections to Bronze Age daggers, hollow oak burials, the enterprising monks of Glastonbury Abbey, the folklore around an Ice Age lake drained by the Victorians, the Order of the Garter, a miracle at Edward the Confessor’s tomb and Henry VIII’s typically self-aggrandising restoration of Edward III’s Round Table.

Illustrated by Amy herself with thirty dramatic original linocuts.

Jackie Morris is one of Britains most popular illustrators and writers. She was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway medal in 2016 and won it in 2019 for her illustration of The Lost Words, voted the most beautiful book of 2016 by UK booksellers.

Jackie has written and illustrated many books including Tell me a Dragon, Something about a Bear, I am Cat and The Lost Spells.

Loved by adults and children alike, this is a unique opportunity to hear about the creative process of writing and illustrating as Jackie introduces her newest book The Wild Lullaby written by her and illustrated by Cathy Fisher who Jackie has collaborated with previously for The Summer Puppy and Panda’s Child.

IN CONVERSATION with Natasha Solomons about her new book CLEOPATRA

THURSDAY 23rd JULY

7pm

The Garden Room at THE OLD BELL HOTEL, Malmesbury (SN16 0BW)

Tickets £15 - includes a complimentary Old Bell Cocktail ( non alcoholic version available)

Ticket, cocktail and copy of book: £22.50

Want to make a night of it? The Old Bell are offering 10% off if you dine in the Tyger Bar before or after the event ( Booking essential 01666 822344 mentioning code CLEO)

About the Author

Natasha Solomons is the author of seven internationally bestselling novels, including Mr Rosenblum's List, The Novel in the Viola, which was chosen for the Richard & Judy Book Club, and I, Mona Lisa. Her work has been translated into seventeen languages. She lives in Dorset with her family. She also works as a playwright and screenwriter.

About the Book

Paperback

RRP £9.99

Cleopatra : The captivating new retelling of the story of the legendary Egyptian queen. Meet the real woman behind the myth.

THE UNMISSABLE NEW RETELLING OF THE LIFE OF ONE OF HISTORY'S MOST POWERFUL, ENTICING AND MISREPRESENTED FEMALE FIGURES - THE LEGENDARY QUEEN CLEOPATRA

KNOW HER.

LOVE HER.

FEAR HER.

Cleopatra, Egyptian Princess, grows up the favoured daughter of the Pharoah, hiding amongst the scrolls in the great library of Alexandria with her beloved slave Charmian, longing for the chance one day to write her own story. Then when her father dies, willing that Cleopatra rule with her selfish brother Ptolemy, danger stirs.

As the young Egyptian Queen sails the Nile to greet her people, he plots to destroy her and take the throne for himself. But while Ptolemy has the power of Egypt behind him, Cleopatra has her wits. And when the great Caesar arrives from Rome, she realises he could be the key to her salvation - though courting this powerful man could cost her everything.

Can Cleopatra save her life, her throne, her beloved Egypt and finally command her own history? A powerful, sensuous new retelling, this is a captivating story of female power and vulnerability, of love and loss, fierce friendship and terrible betrayal. It's time to meet the real Cleopatra.