Heiresses Summer 2026 Book Tour

I really enjoyed my adventures sharing stories from Heiresses at different events around the country this summer, so I thought I'd share what I’ve been up to...

I began in early June with a talk to alumni of my old college, Christ Church, Oxford, hosted in the imposing Mercers’ Hall in the heart of the City of London. My talk highlighted two heiresses from the book who were linked to Christ Church through the men in their lives who attended the college: Chapter 2’s Frances Duff née Dalzell and Chapter 7’s Elizabeth Vassall, later Lady Webster then Lady Holland. I was delighted that This Is Book Love were able to attend to sell copies of my books, besides an brilliant array of others. I wasn’t sure how the audience would feel when I pointed out how closely entwined Christ Church was with enslavement – besides the former students mentioned in my book, I had stories about Elizabeth I, John Locke, William Penn and William Gladstone. The good news is that the college is undertaking research on ‘Colonialism and its Legacies at Christ Church’, which I will be very interested to read in due course.

The next day I hopped on a train and was soon transported to the idyllic setting of Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, Hampshire, to talk about her Barbados-born aunt Jane Leigh-Perrot, née Cholmeley. It was incredibly special to visit a place I had read so much about, and see so many objects and spaces associated with the great author herself, such as her writing table by the window.

I was there to show another side to the story, though my audience seemed rather more intrigued by my heiress’s trial for shoplifting than her Barbados backstory, or even the fact that Austen herself inherited £50 from Mrs Lillingston, another Barbados heiress, whom she met at one of her aunt’s parties in Bath. The talk was recorded, so is now available on YouTube.

My next gig, at the height of the heatwave, was Chalke History Festival, near Salisbury in Wiltshire. I had always wanted to go to this smorgasbord for the history enthusiast so was disappointed that circumstances limited my time there to a mere five, very hot, hours. In fact, I resorted to raiding the Green Room bar for ice cubes to hold to the back of my neck!

The talk itself was the coolest part of my day, as there was a fan directly aimed at the podium, and I particularly enjoyed sharing the tragic romance of Antiguan-born Jane Macquarie née Jarvis who married in Mumbai and died in China (read more in Chapter 6). Her husband’s diary entry on their wedding night is always a crowd-pleaser! I was also gratified that sharing a letter written by Betsy Newton – who fled Barbados for London to confront her enslaver – challenged the audience’s assumptions about how many enslaved people knew how to read and write.

At the signing table, it was lovely to see Christ Zieba, who I worked with on my Teaching Black Tudors project, and a young woman who studied Black Tudors for GCSE, and is now doing History at University.

In early July I headed to the Bradford Literature Festival, taking my husband and kids along for the ride. I was on a panel with Tina Andrews, author of a novel about Queen Charlotte, and Kate Evans, whose graphic biography of Jane Austen – Patchwork - also features her aunt, Jane Leigh Perrot, and Chawton. I loved seeing those people and places I’d written about and recently visited come to life in her pages! There was plenty more to learn too. The kids enjoyed the illustration session with Nori Arty; my husband was intrigued by talks about the legacy of Agatha Christie and the Suez crisis. Meanwhile I went along to the Blacktionary show, where Maggie Semple and Jane Oremosu presented their pocket guide to the language of race.

Towards the end of July I headed to the beautiful Harvington Hall near Kidderminster to talk about Black Tudors, in conversation with Jo Durrant. It was lovely to meet Georgia Munroe, one of the re-enactors there, portraying a real Black Tudor. Her presence in the Hall's Tudor kitchen reminded me of the wonderful portrait of Cattelena of Almondsbury by Annie Pearson displayed in the kitchen at Selly Manor's Black Tudors: New Narratives exhibition back in 2024. My kids enjoyed exploring the Elizabethan priest holes and playing Tudor games. They had limited patience for my actual talk though, and made it clear with hand signals from the back of the tent when our time was up! And who should show up at the signing table but a member of the Bluck family, descended from Black Tudor Henry Jetto! 

The last event of the summer was at the Llangwm Literary Festival in beautiful Pembrokeshire, South Wales. This included a hilarious Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile (specifically the 1978 film) - themed fancy dress party! Interestingly, the village, near Haverfordwest, was also a stone's throw from Picton Castle, which I took the chance to visit. Picton was the home of Cesar Picton (c. 1755-1836) who arrived there from West Africa as a boy, and grew up in the service of Sir John Philipps and his family there, but ended his days as a wealthy and succesful coal merchant in Kingston-on-Thames. I first learnt about him when I did this talk at Kingston University way back in 2014, more on the event and the history here. I was glad to see Cesar's story being told at the Castle, and hope to help them amplify that in the future- watch this space!

If reading this has whetted your appetite to come to one of my talks, have a look at my Events page for details of my forthcoming appearances. Hope to see you on the road! And if I'm not coming to your town, please do ask your local museum, bookshop, library or other venue to send me an invite!