When the lady from the festival committee asked me to speak during this week I said yes,- naturally, but it was only after she’d left that I realised I didn’t know what she wanted me to speak about.

Could it be woodcarving? Writing? The meaning of life?  Wine appreciation, - something I’m noted for. Or better still, French cuisine?

Thankfully, written confirmation soon arrived and I saw that it was to be part of a literary evening.

So, Meaning of Life it is.  

Or rather the ‘Meaningfulness of lives’, which was the subject of a Forbes study, which  began by asking, ‘Why were so many jobs with a better pay and higher social status less likely to produce happiness?’.

Local author Leanda de Lisle will be talking about her new book Sisters who would be Queen based on Lady Jane Grey and her sisters Katherine and Mary.

Jeff Hawksworth lives locally and since finishing “proper work” has discovered a love of writing, having so far published five novels.

He will talk about his experience of writing and about his latest book The Tack Chest, an historical novel set in the farming communities of Hartshill, Mancetter and Atherstone areas.