Durrants’ Author Events in May

Durrants Hotel on George Street, has two upcoming Guest Author Evenings this month; Rachel Threthewey 14 May (tomorrow!) and Peter Grimsdale with author wife Stephanie Calman 28 May. Tickets for the events must be booked in advance and cost from £15pp. During the events, guests have the opportunity to discuss the authors’ latest books with the actual author and enjoy a glass of fizz and canapés afterwards.

Tuesday 14th May: Rachel Trethewey and ‘Before Wallis’

The intense romance between Edward VIII and American divorcée Wallis Simpson is well documented. Yet three other women – Rosemary Leveson Gower, Freda Dudley Ward and Thelma Furness – challenge the narrative that Wallis was the only woman Edward wanted to marry. ‘Before Wallis’ reveals the lives of these three other captivating women, their impact on the heir to the throne during his formative years and questions whether Edward really wanted to be King at all.

Rachel Trethewey’s biography of “Georgina, Duchess of Bedford’ was published in 2002 and her 2018 book ‘Pearls Before Poppies’ told the story of the women behind the Red Cross pearl necklace campaign of 1918. Rachel has contributed feature pieces for the Daily Mail, Daily Express and The Independent.

Start: 6.30pm Price: £15 per person

Tuesday 28th May: Peter Grimsdale, ‘High Performance’ & Stephanie Calman, ‘Confessions of a Bad Mother: The Teenage Years’

A lively conversation is promised as husband-and-wife Guest Author duo, Peter Grimsdale & Stephanie Calman discuss their respective books, ‘High Performance. When Britain Ruled the World’ and ‘Confessions of a Bad Mother: The Teenage Years’. The couple will go on to compare notes on working and living alongside one another as writers.

With ‘High Performance’ examining the glory years of British racing car design that came with the 1960s, Peter profiles the mavericks of their time who were shaped by war time experience and fuelled by contempt for convention. ‘Confessions of a Bad Mother’, on the other hand, finds Stefanie studying the behaviour of teenagers with a candid, touching and humorous approach as she comes to realise your teenager is not the enemy after all!

Start: 6.15pm Price: £17.50 per person.

Email for more information and book, or call: 020 7935 8131 (Ext. 705)