Our Three Greatest English Novelists
8 April 2027 at 09:30:00
Moor Park Mansion, Rickmansworth
Booking closes
25 March 2027
L-R: Agatha Christie, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen
BOOKING FOR THIS EVENT IS EXPECTED TO OPEN IN JANUARY 2027
We begin today's Discovery Day in the 18th century by following the career of Jane Austen, one of the earliest and greatest female writers, alongside the rise in popularity of the new-style Novel. We will hear about Jane’s quiet, private upbringing and her personal struggle for true independence, and learn how her novels gathered momentum and appreciation after her death.
After coffee we move forward into the Victorian era to explore the life and times of Charles Dickens, a complex man driven by a vivid imagination and a consuming need to succeed in his chosen career. We will follow his career path from political reportage to becoming the most famous novelist in the world, hear about his enthralling reading tours and examine how his immense international popularity hastened his early demise.
Our third lecture after lunch brings us firmly into the 20th century and into orbit of Agatha Christie. Brought up in the comfort of English upper middle class society, she too had mystery in her life. This biographical talk will surprise and enlighten us about how she developed her talent for writing, having never attended a proper school, and ultimately became Queen of crime novelists and the best-selling fiction writer of all time.
Our Speaker
Jane Tapley
Jane Tapley
Jane is currently Special Events Organiser at the Theatre Royal Bath, where she hosts public interviews with visiting actors, writers and directors. She is a West Country Tourist Board Registered Blue Badge Guide and Lecturer and lectures regularly to theatre-going societies, the National Trust and history and fine arts groups. In her downtime Jane is a freelance researcher and is author of theatre programme notes on Hamlet, Sheridan's The Rivals and Jane Austen's Emma.
She is also a Home Economist and a theatrical landlady(!) and has been Consultant to various TV productions of Jane Austen adaptations and on food in the 18th and 19th centuries. She hosts and cooks period meals in her Regency house in Bath for the annual Jane Austen Festival and for other literary groups.