Behind Closed Doors: Event with Arifa Akbar at Daunt Books Summertown
11 Apr 2022
Arifa Akbar, chief theatre critic at the Guardian and author of Consumed, and Lucy Atkins, journalist, book critic & author of several novels including Magpie Lane, will discuss their books, difficult families, and how to write about them. Both books – one memoir, one novel – consider ideas of family, the secrets and mysteries they often keep, and the resulting tensions.
When Arifa Akbar discovered her sister had fallen seriously ill, she expected a short hospital stay and then home. It wasn’t until the day before Fauzia died that the family discovered she was suffering from tuberculosis. Consumed is a beautifully written and moving memoir exploring sisterhood, grief, art and the myths surrounding TB.
Magpie Lane, a chilling Gothic thriller set in Oxford, begins in the aftermath of a young girl going missing. The police have turned to Dee, her nanny, for answers. As Dee recalls her time with this dysfunctional family – Nick, the powerful father, his glamourous, pregnant wife Mariah – and Felicity, daughter of Nick’s previous marriage, who is almost mute and grieving her mother. As time goes on, and there’s no sign of Felicity, suspicion turns to Dee.
Tickets are £5 including a glass of wine and a soft drink.
Event Details
Friday 13th May 2022Event starts at 7:00pm
