FEATURE:
Here’s To The Troublemakers!
IN THIS PHOTO: Eleanor Newton in conversation with Marina Hyde (who was speaking about her book, What Just Happened?!: Dispatches from Turbulent Times) at The Ned on 21st November, 2023/PHOTO CREDIT: Alice Lubbock
Looking Ahead to My First Year with the Club
_________
THE first event…
I attended with The Trouble Club was about ten months ago when She's In CTRL author Dr. Anne-Marie Imafidon spoke about women's erasure in tech. That was held at The Ned in London. Until that point, I did not know much about The Trouble Club and what they did. I was intrigued to join and, as a first event, that was a pretty good and memorable one! Since then, I have seen some truly incredible women in conversation for The Trouble Club. One of the most memorable was journalist and author (and podcaster) Marina Hyde back in November. First started in 2014, the Trouble Club celebrates its tenth anniversary (I am not sure the exact week/month they were founded, but we are close!). Run by Director Eleanor Newton, The Trouble Club hosts a number of fascinating speakers across beautiful venues in and around central London. From politicians, authors to activists, there have been so many incredible talks and events held since their inception. Growing in stature and popularity, they just recently announced 10,000 Instagram followers. You can also follow them on Twitter. With Francesca Edmondson (Marketing & Events Coordinator) working alongside Eleanor (Ellie) Newton at these events, there is this formidable and renowned club whose members, Troublemakers, are growing in numbers. There is talk that events will be taking place in Manchester soon. I wonder when the official tenth anniversary is and whether there will be a special event. Alongside talks, there are a range of social events and book clubs available. Also online events so that people can watch from home. I am going to look back at the events I have not covered yet since my previous feature about The Trouble Club. That was at the end of January. A couple of months later, there has been a lot packed in. So many fascinating and wonderful events!
You can look at what is coming up. You can become a member. To be honest, when I look back at events from the past two months and point to what is coming up, you will definitely want to! There are so many benefits. You get a free complimentary ticket to an event every month. There are these social events and two guest passes to each Trouble event at the members price. There is also Access to networking opportunities at pre-event drinks and members dinners. It is an inclusive, safe and welcoming space where you feel included and embraced. Tomorrow, Monarchs, Mistresses & More. A Guided Her-story Tour of Mayfair takes place at 2.00 p.m. It is going to be amazing: “If you are tired of walking in the footsteps of the male, pale and stale then join us for a guided history walk that will focus solely on London’s most brilliant women”. I am going to start off with the start of February and what was happening with The Trouble Club. On 9th February, the powerful and important Surviving Playboy with Crystal Hefner and Pandora Sykes took place at Soho’s Century Club, it was a moving and hugely honest conversation: “In 2008 the Playboy mansion became Crystal Harris's sanctuary - a shimmering vestige of opportunity. Within months she had ascended its hierarchy to become Hugh Hefner's top girlfriend. But her new home came at a cost. Forced to follow strict rules that governed everything from her appearance to behaviour, she began to lose her identity”. Crystal Hefner was discussing her time married to the late Hugh Hefner and her time at the Playboy Mansion. Hefner has written Say Only Good Things where she reveals what it was like being in a very strange, toxic and coercive environment. She and Pandora Sykes took us inside life inside the Playboy Mansion. I am glad that Hefner now seems in a happier place – and is in a loving and trusting relationship – and can tell her story.
On 13th February, Conversations From Calais with Mathilda Della Torre and Hiba Noor took place at Mortimer House. I would recommend people get Della Torre’s book, Conversations From Calais: Sharing Refugee Stories. Another amazing event – “Conversations From Calais aims to re-humanise those affected by the refugee crisis by using public space to share conversations volunteers have had with migrants met in Calais. It is a way of bearing witness for the thousands of displaced people stuck in Calais and trying to reach the UK” – there was so much emotion in the air. Especially raw and moving was Hiba Noor - a trans Muslim filmmaker and director – talking about her experience as a refugee. The horror and abuse that she faced coming to this country. How she literally had members of her family murdered. Because she was trans and seen as somehow immoral and evil. It was a very gut-wrenching interview/talk that was among the most potent and unforgettable I have witnessed. It raised so many questions and issues. Another reason to buy Conversations From Calais: Sharing Refugee Stories. I would advise people read this 2023 interview with Mathilda Della Torre.
An event that was perhaps a polar opposite was A Year In Sex with Emma-Louise Boynton. That was on 15th February at AllBright. Let’s do some Boynton admin. Check out her amazing Sex Talks podcast. As we read here, “…inspired by Emma-Louise’s personal experience doing sex therapy, Sex Talks exists to engender more open and honest conversations around typically taboo topics including sex, relationships and the future of intimacy”. You can visit her website and learn more about her writing and presenting. She is someone who would be fascinating to hear interviews from (is the grammar there is correct?!). Getting to hear more from her. I also think she would have a book in her. Reading is sacred to her , and I do think there would be a huge audience for any book she wrote. Whether it was based on he podcast or her experiences of dating and sex, it would be fascinating! Although there were not too many other men at the event at AllBright (two others), it was really eye-opening, informative, open and beneficial.
IN THIS PHOTO: Emma-Louise Boynton with Francesca Edmondson/PHOTO CREDIT: Alice Lubbock
I did forget to say that all the speakers who are invited to Trouble Club events are women. The members, Troublemakers, are predominantly women…though it is open to all genders – though you can appreciate the majority of events see a female majority. I am excited to see what the rest of the year holds. Guests I would definitely love to see speak in the future. From filmmaker Greta Gerwig (though that may be a huge and expensive booking!) to Caitlin Moran, there are women that members would put on a wish-list. That said, the people that speak for The Trouble Club are so diverse and amazing. Kudos to the pull and passion that The Trouble Club has. How it has this reputation and name. How Ellie Newton can get so many inspiring and awesome people! Moving towards the end of February, Trouble Comedy Night! happened on 22nd February. The Museum of Comedy housed Blank Peng, Nikola McMurtie, Hannah Platt and MC Vix Leyton. Hosted by Funny Women, it was a brilliant night of comedy from three very different but excellent acts.
On 27th February, back at the Century Club, Mad Woman with Bryony Gordon was witnessed by an excited and receptive Trouble Club crowd. It was a phenomenal evening. As The Trouble Club describe: “A decade on from first writing about her own experiences of mental illness, Bryony Gordon still receives messages about the effect it has on people. Now perimenopausal and well into the next stage of her life, parenting an almost-adolescent, just what has that help - and that connection with other unwell people - taught Bryony about herself, and the society we live in?”. Bryony Gordon’s Mad Woman was being discussed. A fabulous and inspiring guest, you do need to go and get this book:
“From burnout and binge eating, to living with fluctuating hormones and the endless battle to stay sober, Bryony begins to question whether she got mental illness wrong in the first place. Is it simply a chemical imbalance, or rather a normal response from your brain telling you that something isn't right?
Mad Woman explores the most difficult of all the lesson she's learned over the last decade - that our notion of what makes a happy life is the very thing that's making us so sad. Bryony Gordon is unafraid to write with her trademark blend of compassion, honesty and humour about her personal challenges and demons, which means her books and journalism have had profound impact on readers. She founded the mental health charity, Mental Health Mates, which has become a vast online community”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Cathy Newman (with Eleanor Newton)/PHOTO CREDIT: Alice Lubbock
Coming into March, on 11th, the fabulous Cathy Newman came to The Ned. At a regular Trouble Club venue – which is one of the most beautiful and luxurious -, Newman was discussing her book, The Ladder: Life Lessons from Women Who Scaled the Heights & Dodged the Snakes. It was brilliant, often very funny and compelling hearing Newman speak. One of the biggest guests The Trouble Club has hosted, I would recommend people check out her new book:
“The Ladder brings together discussions between women – about work, love, growth, challenge, the big decisions and the stories of their lives.
Offering inspiration and wise counsel from some of the world’s most acclaimed and influential women, this book is an insight and a trove of solidarity, turning over ideas of change, anger, illness, imposter syndrome, self-knowledge, purpose, how to not panic in a crisis and how to stop worrying you’re boring when there isn’t one.
Amidst these pages are discussions with women who have achieved extraordinary things in their fields and pursuits, from politicians like Nicola Sturgeon and Angela Rayner to scientists like Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, activists like Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, film-makers like Waad Al-Kateab, religious leaders like Rose Hudson-Wilkin and broadcasters like Joan Bakewell”.
The past couple of weeks has been busy for The Trouble Club. This Is An Emergency with Lynne Jones OBE followed two days after the Cathy Newman event. On 13th March, at Mortimer House, we were very fortunate to hear Jones speak: “In the 1980s, Lynne Jones joined thousands of other women at Greenham Common to protest against nuclear weapons. Today she stands with Extinction Rebellion to raise awareness of the climate crisis. Lynne will join us to share her compelling, ground-level account of the last five years of UK protests”. She was also talking about her book, Sorry for the Inconvenience But This Is an Emergency: The Nonviolent Struggle for Our Planet’s Future. Talking about the diversity of guests and the range of subjects/issues discussed, it is another major reason as to why The Trouble Club is expanding. On their tenth anniversary, their social media following is growing. There is a Manchester branch coming; an opportunity to see events there. Also, when it comes to the options of social events, great speakers and chances to meet other members, the choice and variation is amazing! Prior to moving to an event I attended on Thursday (21st March) and looking to what is coming, I wanted to mention a great example of a social event that provided great unwind and community. I saw a lot of new faces at Trouble’s ‘70s and ‘80s Disco night at The Star of King, Kings Cross. That took place on 15th March. “Do you love to dance but find nightclubs sticky and crowded. Us too! We're teaming up with Haven’t Stopped Dancing Yet a night out that's been featured everywhere from Stylist and The Guardian to Time Out & the i. It's been described as Mamma Mia meets Saturday Night Fever in a glorious mash up and they are throwing a party just for The Trouble Club”. With dance routines where we all got to move together, to classic and great tracks from the 1970s and 1980s that compelled people to dance and get together, it was a really fun event to end the working week!
On Thursday, The Hearth welcomed Alice Loxton. I shall come to her book in a moment. “Alice Loxton knows how to make history fun! The historian, presenter and author has over two million followers across social media and she'll be joining us to talk about her passion for the subject and specifically her research into the thrilling and hilarious satirists from the late Georgian period”. The brilliant Alice Loxton took us inside her book, UPROAR!. She was a magnificent and hugely engrossing speaker. As a history graduate and fan, I am compelled to pick up her book:
“London, 1772: a young artist called Thomas Rowlandson is making his way through the grimy backstreets of the capital, on his way to begin his studies at the Royal Academy Schools. Within a few years, James Gillray and Isaac Cruikshank would join him in Piccadilly, turning satire into an artform, taking on the British establishment, and forever changing the way we view power.
Set against a backdrop of royal madness, political intrigue, the birth of modern celebrity, French revolution, American independence and the Napoleonic Wars, UPROAR! follows the satirists as they lampoon those in power, from the Prince Regent to Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Their prints and illustrations deconstruct the political and social landscape with surreal and razor-sharp wit, as the three men vie with each other to create the most iconic images of the day.
Alice Loxton's writing fizzes with energy on every page, and never fails to convince us that Gillray and his gang profoundly altered British humour, setting the stage for everything from Gilbert and Sullivan to Private Eye and Spitting Image today. This is a book that will cause readers to reappraise everything they think they know about genteel Georgian London, and see it for what it was - a time of UPROAR!”.
There is a lot to come at The Trouble Club. I shall cover off the events I have booked. If you are interested in what you have heard so far, go to the website and look at the events that are approaching. It is amazing and there will be something for everyone! I am looking forward to Neurodiversity Discussion with Jess & Mia. They are Jess Joy and Charlotte Mia:
“The lack of information around how ADHD and autism shows up in adults means that many of us have been assuming we were anxious, not working hard enough, or just entirely failing altogether.’
Dynamic neurodivergent duo, Jess and Mia are the founders of the fast-growing Instagram platform I Am Paying Attention and they are on a mission to make work more neurodivergent-friendly.
They will join us at Trouble for a group discussion where they will share their experiences of autism and ADHD and listen to the thoughts and feelings of our members.
Whether you are neurodivergent yourself or have loved ones who are, this will be an open space for discussion and conversation.
Unlike other Trouble virtual events, you will be able to turn on your mic and camera to take part in the conversation”.
I am interested in their book, How Not to Fit In: An Unapologetic Guide to Navigating Autism and ADHD. It is something that really connects and resonates with me. Something I can relate to. I am interested in the Zoom event and being able to be part of the conversation. This book is very important because, as we see in the synopsis from Waterstones, “The lack of information around how ADHD and autism shows up in adults means that many of us have been assuming we were anxious, not working hard enough, or just entirely failing altogether.’ – Jess Joy and Charlotte Mia”.
Before getting to the next event, a quick nod to Group Coaching on Emotional Intelligence with Laura Simpson. That takes place on 27th March at The Hearth. I think the only reason I did not book this is because I am with The Trouble Club tomorrow (24th) and Tuesday (26th). Just a night off really! Anyway. People should book a ticket if they can:
“In this group coaching session, we’ll discuss what we mean by emotional intelligence, its relevance to us personally, and why it matters now more than ever. We’ll look at the ‘Path to Action’, which reveals how our emotional responses dictate our behaviours, and how we can work with our brains to make better decisions. We will learn to look at emotions not as directives, but rather as data - data that if interpreted accurately, can signpost us to what we need.
Central to this process is looking at emotions with curiosity, not judgement, and understanding that whilst some emotions feel easier and others feel harder, we need to shed the labels ‘positive’ and ‘negative’. We’ll look at 5 key skills to develop greater emotional intelligence, and how to maximise authenticity, trust and credibility by harnessing ‘selective vulnerability’.
Laura Simpson is the Founder of Altura Coaching and a certified Executive & Team Coach and leadership development facilitator. Laura has coached people from a wide range of organisations including Microsoft, The Financial Times, Stephenson Harwood, and Mayer Brown. She is a qualified Mental Health First Aider, Board Trustee for Mind in Kensington and Chelsea, and a pro-bono coach and mentor for numerous charities”.
There are lots of cool and really interesting workshops and other events. It is not only talks and interviews. There are social evenings, dinners, book clubs and workshops that make The Trouble Club’s diary so eclectic and interesting! There is a Sewing & Upcycling Workshop at The Hearth on 3rd April:
“It's time to pick up a needle! Fast fashion is one of the biggest contributors to climate change, and one of the best ways we can combat the problem is by mending and upcycling our own clothes.
Every adult should possess at least the basic ability to mend their own garments and if you have no idea where to begin, this is the event for you!
We've teamed up with Isifiso to bring you a beginner sewing and mending workshop. We will learn to upcycle an old T-Shirt (be sure to bring one along) using scrap fabrics for unique appliqué designs! You will leave this hands-on session - focused on sustainable fashion and easy to master sewing techniques - with the skills needed to mend and sew your favourite clothes so that they continue to last for years to come”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Angela Saini
On 9th April, How Men Came to Rule with Angela Saini takes place at AllBright. You can find out more about Saini via her Instagram and official website. I was instantly compelled by the description for the event:
“By thinking about gendered inequality as rooted in something unalterable within us, we fail to see it for what it is: something more fragile that has had to be constantly remade and reasserted.’
Award-winning science journalist Angela Saini has gone in search of the true roots of gendered oppression, and has uncovered a complex history of how male domination became embedded in societies and spread across the globe from prehistory into the present.
Travelling to the world’s earliest known human settlements, analysing the latest research findings in science and archaeology, and tracing cultural and political histories from the Americas to Asia, she's overturned simplistic universal theories which show that what patriarchy is and how far it goes back really depends on where you are.
Despite the push back against sexism and exploitation in our own time, even revolutionary efforts to bring about equality have often ended in failure and backlash.
Saini will join us to talk about her research and share what part we all play – women included – in keeping patriarchal structures alive, and why we need to look beyond the old narratives to understand why it persists in the present”.
Her new book, The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule, is one I am definitely excited and interested to read. It definitely looks like a must-own book:
“SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING 2023
A WATERSTONES BOOK OF YEAR FOR POLITICS 2023
‘I learned something new on every page of this totally essential book’ Sathnam Sanghera
‘By thinking about gendered inequality as rooted in something unalterable within us, we fail to see it for what it is: something more fragile that has had to be constantly remade and reasserted.
In this bold and radical book, award-winning science journalist Angela Saini goes in search of the true roots of gendered oppression, uncovering a complex history of how male domination became embedded in societies and spread across the globe from prehistory into the present.
Travelling to the world’s earliest known human settlements, analysing the latest research findings in science and archaeology, and tracing cultural and political histories from the Americas to Asia, she overturns simplistic universal theories to show that what patriarchy is and how far it goes back really depends on where you are
Despite the push back against sexism and exploitation in our own time, even revolutionary efforts to bring about equality have often ended in failure and backlash. Saini ends by asking what part we all play – women included – in keeping patriarchal structures alive, and why we need to look beyond the old narratives to understand why it persists in the present”.
On 12th April, I am going to be at Good Girls with Hadley Freeman. Such a tremendous and respected journalist, Hadley Freeman will be at Century Club. It is going to be another wonderful event that promises many highlights. Her book, Good Girls: A Story and Study of Anorexia, is going to be discussed. Getting extensive and passionate reviews from The New York Times and The Guardian, it will be moving and powerful hearing Freeman speak:
“Hadley Freeman is one of our favourite journalists, not just because of her brilliant columns and juicy celebrity interviews, but because she's not afraid to speak about her struggles and her life with anorexia.
"This is how the Anorexia Speak worked in my head:
'Boys like girls with curves on them' - If you ever eat anything you will be mauled by thuggish boys with giant paws for hands.
'Don't you get hungry?' - You are so strong and special, and I envy your strength and specialness.
'Have you tried swimming? I find that really improves my appetite' - You need to do more exercise.
Hadley will join us to talk about the trigger that sparked her illness and four hospitalisations as well as offer extraordinary insight into her struggles.
Hadley Freeman is a staff writer at the Sunday Times. She worked for more than 20 years at the Guardian and her writing has appeared in many publications. Her previous book, House of Glass, was a Sunday Times bestseller and has been published around the world. Good Girls: A Story and Study of Anorexia was a ‘Best Book of 2023’ in the Times, Guardian and Wall Street Journal”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Jenny Kleeman
Before highlighting the final two events I am going to next month, there are a few other events that might interest people. The Price of Life with Jenny Kleeman. Hosted at Home Grown on 17th April, Jenny Kleeman will talk about The Price of Life. It sounds like such a relevant and important event that you will want to be a part of:
“How much do professional hit men charge? How much debt would you need to be in to fake your own death? We say that life is priceless. Yet the cost of saving a life, creating a life or compensating for a life taken is routinely calculated and put into practice.
In a world in love with data, it is possible to run a cost-benefit analysis on anything – including life itself. For philanthropists, judges, criminals, healthcare providers and government ministers, it’s just part of the job. Journalist, broadcaster and documentary-maker Jenny Kleeman will join us at Trouble to introduce us to the people who decide what we’re worth.
What does it mean for our humanity when we crunch the numbers to decide who gets the expensive life-saving drugs, and who misses out? What do we learn about ourselves when philanthropic giving by the effective altruists in Silicon Valley is received by some, while others are left to suffer? Are some lives really worth more than others? And what happens when we take human emotions out of the equation? Does it make for a fairer decision-making process – or for moral bankruptcy?”.
On 18th April, via Zoom, there is Let's Talk Fertility with The Evewell Clinic. You can find out more about The Everwell Clinic and what they do. It is going to be an essential event. As you can see from the event description, women’s health will be put in the spotlight – something not often done. It is amazing that, in 2024, there women’s health is often ignored and seen as non-important. We are in a moment when many women are left to suffer in silence:
“Women’s health is desperately overlooked, and a lot of women suffer in silence with gynaecological pain and discomfort because they think their experience is “normal” or only find out that there are fertility concerns when they are struggling to conceive.
Enter The Evewell, a platform committed to fertility and gynaecology education. In this Zoom session, we’ll hear from a fertility consultant and two members of The Evewell patient services team, who will be discussing:
Why it’s important to understand your fertility and general gynaecological health, things to look out for; what’s normal, what isn’t normal, and when you may need to seek help.
Fertility investigations and tests; what they all mean and when you might need to think about doing these.
What fertility treatments are available (covering: non-invasive treatments, IVF, genetic testing, egg freezing and donor conception)
Options for LGBTQ+ or those wishing to pursue solo parenthood
Egg freezing: things to consider, what happens in a cycle and how to fit it into your life
Maybe you want to understand more about your general fertility, or perhaps you’re already on a path to parenthood and want to understand your options or find out what’s next if it’s not going quite as planned….This session will help to provide some of those answers”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Bay Garnett
On 23rd April, Style and Substance with Bay Garnett takes place at Ladbroke Hall. I am not hugely familiar with Bay Garnett, although I am interested in the event. I have not booked my ticket yet, yet I may well do so very soon:
“Maya Angelou's perfectly fitting dress made her feel like a sunbeam. Zadie Smith's wardrobe differs depending on whether she's in London or New York, while Joan Didion always followed the same packing list. Beau Brummell and Luke Edward Hall consider colour in an outfit like an artist does a painting; Nora Ephron knows that 'everything matches black, especially black.'
Bay Garnett has over two decades’ worth of experience in the fashion industry and she'll be joining us to discuss why what we wear really matters, the favourite pieces of our icons and why the sustainable choice is always the best choice.
Bay was Contributing Fashion Editor at Vogue and her current roles include being the Senior Fashion Advisor to Oxfam. Bay is the co-founder of the influential Cheap Date magazine, hosts the podcast This Old Thing and is a pioneer of the thrifting trend (Bay was the first fashion editor to include vintage pieces in luxury shoots)”.
On 26th April, Trouble Club’s Book Club features Meg Mason’s Sorry and Bliss. It is taking place at MUCCI’S, Chelsea. In 2021, Meg Mason spoke with The Guardian about Sorry and Bliss:
“And yet here she is, ready to tell me about Sorrow and Bliss, the novel that emerged from the wreckage; the novel that has amassed “must read” pre-publication quotes from Gillian Anderson and Ann Patchett, whose protagonist, Martha, has been compared to Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag, and which looks set to be filmed by the company behind the Oscar winners Birdman and 12 Years a Slave. To adapt the well-worn anecdote of the waiter delivering champagne to George Best, where did it all go wrong?
It was the going wrong, Mason explains to me via Zoom from Christchurch, New Zealand, where she’s visiting family for the first time since the start of the pandemic, that started her on the road to things going right. Chiefly, it allowed her to feel her way into the character of Martha who, we learn at the beginning of Sorrow and Bliss, has just turned 40 and just split up with Patrick, her husband of eight years. But from those opening paragraphs, we are aware that there is more going on than the end of a relationship: “An observer to my marriage would think I have made no effort to be a good or better wife. Or, seeing me that night, that I must have set out to be this way and achieved it after years of concentrated effort. They could not tell that for most of my adult life and all of my marriage I have been trying to become the opposite of myself.”
The story that follows includes depictions of intense and frequently painful family dynamics, most notably between Martha, her sister and their mother; the long tail of parental loss and transgenerational trauma; the innumerable false starts of a stalled career; and the emotional demands of both having and not having children. But at the centre of it all stands the reality of Martha’s mental illness, a condition that catapults her into periods of intolerable sadness, epic self-destruction and terrifying isolation. And, for much of the novel, it is an illness that is kept hidden not only from the reader, but from Martha herself. Even when she is finally diagnosed, the narrative refers only to her condition with two dashes (“‘I wonder’,” a new psychiatrist asks her, “‘has anyone ever mentioned —— to you, Martha?’ I moved my hand and said no, thank goodness”)”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Lucy Worsley
There are two further events I want to highlight. One is in May and the other in June. On 7th May, at The Conduit. Lucy Worsley is in conversation. She is an amazing historian and writer who I am sure will be talking about her 2023 book, Agatha Christie. This is going to be a packed event. I am really looking forward to it:
“Lucy Worsley is one of the most famous historians in the country! The joint chief curator at Historic Royal Palaces can regularly be found presenting fascinating shows on the BBC, and she’ll join us to talk about her favourite women of history, including Agatha Christie.
Why did Agatha Christie spend her career pretending that she was "just" an ordinary housewife, when clearly she wasn't? Her life is fascinating for its mysteries and its passions and, as Lucy Worsley says, "She was thrillingly, scintillatingly modern." She went surfing in Hawaii, she loved fast cars, and she was intrigued by the new science of psychology, which helped her through devastating mental illness.
So why, despite all the evidence to the contrary, did Agatha present herself as a retiring Edwardian lady of leisure?
Lucy Worsley's recent biography, Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman, is both authoritative and entertaining and makes us realize what an extraordinary pioneer Agatha Christie was. Truly fascinating and truly troublesome”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Lucy Webster
The most far-away event announced so far happens on 6th June. With the venue still to be announced, The View From Down Here with Lucy Webster is going to be another terrific and thought-provoking event. Lucy Webster will chat about The View from Down Here:
“Lucy Webster is a freelance journalist and writer known for her coverage of disability rights, with four years at the BBC, contacts at all the London broadsheets and bylines in the Guardian, Prospect, BuzzFeed, Tortoise, the Times, and the New Statesman.
The incredible journalist and advocate will be joining us at Trouble to discuss her powerful, honest, hilarious and furious memoir, which looks at life at the intersection; the struggles, the joys and the unseen realities of being a disabled woman.
From navigating the worlds of education and work, dating and friendship; to managing care; contemplating motherhood; and learning to accept your body against a pervasive narrative that it is somehow broken and in need of fixing, The View From Down Here shines a light on what it really means to move through the world as a disabled woman”.
I am really looking forward to hearing Lucy Webster speak. I would also recommend people check out and read her book if you can. It is a very important and honest book that should spotlight how she and so many other disabled women are viewed in society:
“Women's lives are shaped by sexism and expectations. Disabled people's lives are shaped by ableism and a complete lack of expectations. But what happens when you're subjected to both sets of rules?
This powerful, honest, hilarious and furious memoir from journalist and advocate Lucy Webster looks at life at the intersection; the struggles, the joys and the unseen realities of being a disabled woman. From navigating the worlds of education and work, dating and friendship; to managing care; contemplating motherhood; and learning to accept your body against a pervasive narrative that it is somehow broken and in need of fixing, The View From Down Here shines a light on what it really means to move through the world as a disabled woman”.
There is a lot going on with The Trouble Club. Ten years after their formation, this growing and loving community of Troublemakers is somewhere you need to be. If you have thought about membership or only just heard of The Trouble Club, I would encourage you to join. Starting its life running pop-ups club and evenings in and around Soho, it is expanding and can look back and see how far it has come. With passionate and endlessly hard-working and dedicated people like Ellie Newton helming and welcoming in every member, I am always pleased and proud to write about The Trouble Club. I have been a member less than a year, yet I have been to so many events and always look forward when something new has been added to the schedule. Surrounded by so many friendly and wonderful fellow members, getting to sit in some amazing venues around central (and north) London, and privileged to witness some incredible women speak, The Trouble Club is somewhere…
EVERYONE needs to be!