Sensory book club

Experience the sights, smells and sounds of Elizabethan England with novelist James Forrester at The Watermill

With a twist on the traditional book club event, historical novelist James Forrester will be taking an audience on a sensory ride through Elizabethan England at The Watermill on Friday, 1.30pm.

The audience should be prepared for some surprises in an event that will take place in near-darkness, complete with the sights, smells and sounds of the period, as well as an Elizabethan delicacy to taste.

Elizabethan theatre events were associated with lewd behaviour, cross-dressing, anti-puritan activity and scandal.

While this contemporary event may only contain some of the above, the audience should be aware that those talking at the back may be subject to the tradition of being pilloried – having their ears nailed to a wooden post.

James Forrester is the fiction-writing persona of Dr Ian Mortimer, one of the most innovative historical writers working today in the UK.

He is the author of several critically-acclaimed biographies as well as the bestselling The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England.

Writing as James Forrester, he transports his readers to Tudor times in an instant, persuading them that they are there, at that moment, hungry to know what happens next.

In his new book The Roots of Betrayal, Forrester delivers a thriller rich in both historical detail and ingenious twists, that should keep readers up late into the night.

The Roots of Betrayal by James Forrester wais published by Headline Review at the beginning of the month.

Tickets, priced £5, are available from the box office, telephone (01635) 46044 or online at www.watermill.org.uk

Lunch is available from noon, to book, please call the box office.