‘Lapvona’ with Ottessa Moshfegh

We couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome Booker Prize shortlisted author Ottessa Moshfegh to Bath to discuss her spellbinding new novel ‘Lapvona’. Following from the immediate sensation of the much-loved ‘My Year of Rest and Relaxation’, ‘Lapvona’ has already been named one of the most anticipated books of 2022 by The Guardian, The Times, The New Statesman and more, further cementing Moshfegh as one of the most exciting contemporary writers of our times. We hope you’ll join us for this special evening as we transport ourselves to the darkest depths of a medieval village where the veil between the natural world and the spirit world is starting to thin…

Little Marek, the abused and delusional son of the village shepherd, never knew his mother; his father told him she died in childbirth. One of life’s few consolations for Marek is his enduring bond with the blind village midwife, Ina, who suckled him when he was a baby, as she did for many of the village’s children.

Ina’s gifts extend beyond childcare: she possesses a unique ability to communicate with the natural world. Her gift often brings her the transmission of sacred knowledge on levels far beyond those available to other villagers, however religious they might be. For some people, Ina’s home in the woods outside the village is a place to fear and to avoid, a godless place. Among their number is Father Barnabas, the town priest and lackey for the depraved lord and governor, Villiam, whose hilltop manor contains a secret embarrassment of riches.

The people’s desperate need to believe that there are powers that be who have their best interests at heart is put to a cruel test by Villiam and the priest, especially in this year of record drought and famine. But when fate brings Marek into violent proximity to the lord’s family, new and occult forces upset the old order…

We can’t wait to see many of you there at Walcot House for what promises to be a truly memorable and special evening with Ottessa Moshfegh.