Big Lunch

Had a fine Literary Lunch this week, courtesy of the Yorkshire Post, and as well as tooting my own trumpet to promote The Inn at the Top (in a modest and unassuming way, naturally…) I really enjoyed listening to the two other speakers. Mary Sheepshanks was the daughter of an Eton housemaster and a member of the Windsor Castle Girl Guide group that included the Queen and Princess Margaret. She only took up writing at the age of 60 and since then has produced half a dozen novels, five volumes of poetry, and has now written her autobiography. She’s definitely the poshest person I’ve ever shared a platform with, but she’s also witty and self-deprecating, has a stock of good anecdotes and definitely has a way with words. Her book’s called Wild Writing Granny, if you want to seek it out.

The other speaker, Hilary Heilbron, was equally impressive. She’s a QC in her own right, but she’s also the daughter of Rose Heilbron, not only the first woman ever to become a Queen’s Counsel in Britain, but also the first woman ever to be made a judge, in the process blazing a trail for other women, including her daughter, to follow. Hilary has now  repaid the compliment, if you like, by writing her mother’s biography.

All that and a free lunch as well – what’s not to like!