Bowes Book Club welcomes avid readers, museum enthusiasts and anyone curious about how fiction can offer fresh perspectives on art and history. Each session combines thoughtful discussion with close engagement with objects from the museum’s collection.

Tickets: £10 plus museum admission

Each session includes:

• An introduction from one of The Bowes Museum’s curators
• Close interaction with objects from the collection
• Insightful discussion
• Access to the galleries to enrich the storytelling experience
• Complimentary tea and coffee

Upcoming sessions:

Sunday 18 October, 2.30pm to 3.30pm

Bowes Book Club: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

Travel to Renaissance Italy for a discussion of Maggie O’Farrell’s reimagining of the life of Lucrezia de’ Medici, a young duchess navigating marriage, power and court life. Collections Manager Jane Whittaker will illuminate the world of Renaissance Italy through furniture and portraits from the museum’s collection, using a hand-picked selection of objects to enrich conversation around the novel and its historical setting.