Author talk: An Evening with John Banville (ONLINE)

Join us live from The Bindery for a special celebration of the publication of John Banville‛s latest book, Venetian Vespers, an eerie standalone historical novel from the bestselling Booker Prize-winning author. In conversation with Professor John Mullan, John will discuss his new work and take questions from the audience across all his writing.

This event is taking place in person at the Bindery and will be live-streamed. In person tickets are available here.

‘Everything was a puzzle, everything a trap set to mystify and hinder me…’

Winter 1899, and strange things are afoot. As the new century approaches, English hack writer Evelyn Dolman marries Laura Rensselaer, the daughter of a wealthy American plutocrat. But in the midst of a rift between Laura and her father, Evelyn’s plans of a substantial inheritance look to be dashed.

Arriving in Venice for their belated honeymoon at Palazzo Dioscuri – the ancestral home of the charming but treacherous Count Barbarigo – the couple are met by a series of seemingly otherworldly occurrences, which exacerbate Evelyn’s already frayed nerves. Is it just the sea mist blanketing the floating city, or is he really losing his mind?

‘A marvellous and rewarding novelist . . . He is a magician, really.’ SCOTSMAN
‘Banville has a grim gift of seeing people’s souls.’ DON DeLILLO
‘The most eminent innovator in Irish fiction of the last fifty years.’ IRISH TIMES
‘One of my favourite writers alive.’ REBECCA F. KUANG
‘Banville writes prose of such luscious elegance.’ NEW YORK TIMES

John Mullan is Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College London. His books include What Matters in Jane Austen? (2012) and, most recently, The Artful Dickens (2020). He is also a broadcaster and journalist, writing on contemporary fiction for the Guardian. He is the author of How Novels Work and in 2009 was one of the judges for the Man Booker Prize.