News & Events (2)

Star of the Morning Book Launch

It is always a special moment when a book goes out into the world, after so many hours of solitary work.

I was thrilled to be able to launch Star of the Morning, The Extraordinary Life of Lady Hester Stanhope on August 12 at Daunt Books on Marylebone High Street in London. For many years this Edwardian-era bookshop has been one of my all-time favourite places, with its long oak galleries and graceful skylights, the perfect place to duck into on a rainy London afternoon and always find something serendipitous.

It was my first time speaking in public about my book and Hester, and I had thought I would be nervous, but there was a wonderful and relaxed atmosphere with rather a large crowd and much wine quaffed, and I enjoyed telling a few stories about my research and a few tidbits about the exciting new material I had uncovered about Hester. The best compliment a writer can have when they talk about their book is when people say: I didn’t know anything about this, but I was so fascinated by what you said, I had to buy your book.

But the highlight of the evening was definitely the performance of a classical Egyptian dance inspired by raks sharki, an old Middle Eastern dance form, to ’40′s Arabic music by Shereen. (It was thus not dissimiliar to the sort of dance that Hester and her entourage would have seen when they visited Egypt in 1812). This very talented and beautiful dancer told me later that although she usually performs alongside live musicians, she enjoyed the experience of dancing surrounded by so many books, and I have been assured it was a first for Daunt Books!

I was also thrilled to have so many friends, acquaintances and people connected with the book there.

Guests came from as far away as New Zealand and Lebanon, and I was glad to have along representatives from Chevening, where Hester grew up, and from the Venezuelan Embassy, recognising the importance of my book’s revelations about Hester’s friendship with the flamboyant Venezuelan revolutionary, General Francisco de Miranda.

My special thanks go out to everyone at Daunt Books! I’m sure Hester herself would have enjoyed the setting and relished her evening in Marylebone, where indeed, she spent a great deal of her early life. I was thrilled to see the Star Of The Morning display in Daunt’s window, and could not have imagined a better launch.

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Posted on August 16th, 2008 by Kirsten | 2 Comments »

Talk at Sessions House Lecture Theatre, Maidstone, Kent

Talk on Star of the Morning, The Extraordinary Life of Lady Hester Stanhope.

Kirsten Ellis talks about her new biography which presents a stunning reappraisal of this remarkable woman’s life.

Tuesday, 28 October, 2008
6.30 start
Sessions House Lecture Theatre, County Hall
Maidstone, Kent
£3-50 (half price for Friends of the Kent Archives Service or Friends of Maidstone Museum)

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