Join Everybody Reads for an evening with Sarah Clegg, who will talk about her new book Perilous Enchantment: The True History of Faeries.

Sarah will be signing copies of her book afterwards. Refreshments are free.

In Perilous Enchantment, Sarah Clegg tracks the fascinating history of fairies, from the pre-Christian creatures of classical myths to the stories of fairy royalty told in the medieval French courts; from the early modern period in which fairies became bound up with the witch trials to the 16th century when they were imagined as tiny for the first time, the 17th century when they gained their wings and the late Victorian era, which made them sweet, pretty things with pointy ears, right through to their contemporary manifestation in both the sanitised cuteness of girlhood and in the darker realm of fantasy and romantasy.

In pursuit of the fae, in all their darkness and splendour, Clegg visits significant faerie sites across the world, including the Thirteenth Night celebrations of Iceland, where the elf fires are lit; the Eildon Hills in Scotland, in search of a beautiful enchantress; an entrance to fairyland in the Apennine Mountains; a castle and mine in Germany haunted by a once-helpful fairy turned murderous; a magical stone circle in Cornwall with the power to reverse a changing curse; and a fairy ball in Los Angeles.

When

Monday 19 October 2026, 7pm – 8pm

Tickets

£5 available in advance only. Book at eventbrite.com.