Lara Feigel’s Custody: The Secret History of Mothers is a ground-breaking study of an often-overlooked but vital feature of the modern world. It is also a blisteringly original work of biographical imagination and large-scale historical argument. Custody: The Secret History of Mothers is the story of seven women – Caroline Norton, George Sand, Elizabeth Packard, Frieda Lawrence, Edna O’Brien, Alice Walker, Britney Spears – who have fought for their children and been found wanting. And through these case studies it unpacks the embattled and often tortuous meanings of motherhood, parenthood and care in modern culture.

In this exciting event, Feigel is joined by acclaimed writer Nell Stevens, whose novels are themselves magnificently wide-ranging investigations of gender, social change and the power of creativity. They will discuss not only custody past and present and the changing nature of the family but how to write complex books about women’s lives, how to throw yourself into history while getting it to speak to the current world, and how to reconcile the apparently competing demands of emancipation and care.

Lara Feigel is the author of four highly acclaimed works of cultural history and a novel. Professor of Modern Literature and Culture at King’s College London and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, she reviews regularly for the Guardian and contributes to a range of BBC radio programmes. Custody: The Secret History of Mothers is her latest book.

Nell Stevens is an award-winning writer of fiction and memoir. She is the author of the novels The Original and Briefly, a Delicious Life, the memoirs Bleaker House and Mrs Gaskell & Me, and a new short-story collection, The Good Time. Mrs Gaskell & Me won the Somerset Maugham Award. She is Associate Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Warwick.

8pm finish is approximate. Please note that if there is sufficient demand this event may be moved to a larger central Woodstock venue. The date and time will remain unchanged and we will notify you in good time if this is planned.

For further information contact: info@woodstockbookshop.co.uk

TICKETS £5.00 including wine (or a soft drink) & canapés.