Thursday, November 17, 2022 at 5:00pm Eastern

Laurie Lee is a byword in English writing, though perhaps less known outside the UK, particularly so for his biographical novels about his early life in, and eventual escape from, his home village of Slad in the Stroud Valley. The book that made him famous is ‘Cider With Rosie’, published in 1959 and the first in what became a trilogy. This is the book that we will focus on for its lyrical descriptions of the English countryside pre-motor car, lack of sentiment about grinding rural poverty and for laugh-out-loud portrayals of the characters and eccentricities to be found in a small, interwar English village.

Barbara Hooper, the mother of our very own Julian Brown, was a neighbor to Laurie Lee. She interviewed him and wrote a book called Cider with Laurie. In this Virtual Soirée, Sophie will be discussing the works and world of Laurie Lee with great insight brought by Julian.

You can find Cider with Rosie available for purchase in most bookstores (including our C&S Bookshop) if you want to read a copy before our lecture.

Virtual Soirée presentation procedure:

Dana and our guide will arrive at the meeting 10 minutes in advance for those of you who would like to say hello and make sure your zoom settings are ready. The presentation will start promptly at the scheduled hour, and Dana will begin the meeting by muting the microphones and introducing our speaker. The talk will be recorded.  The lecture will last about 45 minutes and afterward Dana will moderate a Q&A session. If you show up late, no worries, you will be muted upon entry.

After the tour, you will receive a follow-up email with a recording of the event. You will be able to access this recording for three months.