The Villager Book Club is a roaming book club and occasional reading retreat, popping-up at intimate venues in villages, towns and cities across the UK. Events are hosted by me, Emma Galvin, with the aim of finding connection through the books we love.
You’ll be able to find out about our latest book picks and upcoming events on Instagram, and details about how to book our events will be posted there too, along with dates, times and venues.
You don’t have to come along to every event, just pick the ones you can make it to, but it’s a good idea to book early as spaces are limited by the nature of our venues.
Upcoming Events
Tuesday 28 July 2026: Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, Stowe Heights Farm, Church Stowe, Northamptonshire
Join us on Tue 28 July in the barn at Stowe Heights Farm in Church Stowe, Northamptonshire, where we’ll be talking about possibly one of our greatest and most tragic works of fiction, Tess of the d’Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy.
Stowe Heights Farm, run by Charlotte and Antony Sykes, is a regenerative farm with a focus on nature-friendly practices and heritage breeds, producing 100% pesticide free food. Surely the perfect location to be immersed in Thomas Hardy’s bucolic English scenery.
“With its depiction of the wronged 'pure woman' Tess and its powerful criticism of Victorian hypocrisy, Tess of the D'Urbervilles is one of the most moving and poetic of Hardy's novels. When its heroine, Tess Durbeyfield, is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urbervilles, meeting her 'cousin' Alec proves to be her downfall. A very different man, Angel Clare, seems to offer her love and salvation, but Tess must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent in the hope of a peaceful future.”
Tickets for this event are £25 per person, to include food and drinks, and are available to book here.
PAST Events
15 June 2026: Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller, The Manor House, Culworth, Northamptonshire
23 May 2026: Babette’s Feast by Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen), The Food Library, Northampton
10 May 2026: Pride & Prejudice Literary Lunch & Open Garden, Woodhill Park Estate, Oswestry, Shropshire
26 April 2026: The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak, Hotpod Daventry, Northamptonshire
26 March 2026: Heartburn by Nora Ephron, Chapel & Co., Blakesley, Northamptonshire
29 Jan 2026: A Girl in Winter by Philip Larkin, The Manor House, Culworth, Northamptonshire
10 December 2025: The Resurrection of Flo by Jo Wood at Chapel & Co, Blakesley, Northamptonshire
11 November 2025: Audition by Katie Kitamura at The Royal Oak, Eydon, Northamptonshire
16 October 2025: Slanting Towards the Sea by Lidija Hilje at Chapel and Co, Blakesley, Northamptonshire