Come along to the book launch of GD Harper’s new novel, The Other Life of Mary English, as he tells us more about another one of Faversham’s extraordinary figures from the past.

Following on from his sold-out events at last year’s Faversham Literary Festival and Faversham Society talk, Glyn will be describing the story of the unlikely friendship between Mary English, a Faversham dockworker’s daughter born at the end of the eighteenth century, who went to Colombia in 1823 to set up a business there, and Manuela Sáenz, the tempestuous lover of Simón Bolívar, the liberator of South America from the Spanish.

Just like Glyn’s previous novel, Arden, his new book is historical fiction, a retelling of historical events based on Mary’s letters home, which are now stored in the British Library, and Manuela’s letters to Bolívar in the General Archive of the Nation in Caracas, Venezuela. It’s based on real people and real events and includes a new theory, to be revealed for the first time at the talk, that suggests that Mary English played a far greater role in Colombian politics than was previously thought.

It is the story of two extraordinary but very different women, strong, independent and unconventional, who together fought oppression, hardship and danger to change the course of South American history.

Please note the venue change, this talk will be at the Old Brewery Store, Faversham. Doors open at 6.30 with time for you to buy a drink from the bar.

Due to capacity limitations, tickets must be pre booked, either via our website or at the Visitor Information Centre.

Tickets are FREE for Faversham Society members and £5 for non-members.