Sarah Perry

17th September 2025

Our September author event was held at Eastern Angles theatre and featured the novelist Sarah Perry, winner of Waterstones Book of the Year Award. Sarah was speaking about her latest novel, Enlightenment, described as a novel of love and scientific pursuit. The book explores the tensions between religious belief and the pursuit of scientific knowledge.

Enlightenment tells the story of best friends Thomas and Grace who have lived all their lives in a small Essex town. They are described as ‘kindred spirits’ but, separated by age,  their relationship is torn apart by love, as the story unfolds.

Sarah spoke at length about her lifelong interest in science, particularly astronomy and comets which influences her writing. She explored how the use of scientific language such as ‘orbits’ and ‘planetary motion’ in other contexts can serve as parables for human experiences. As a young child she was a voracious reader, sampling a wide variety of literary genres.

Sarah was asked about the process of creating her novels and she highlighted three distinct stages: firstly an initial ‘thinking’ stage, during which she will process her ideas over an extended period of time. This is followed by writing a first draft, a stage she described as ‘horrendous’, and a final stage of retyping and then editing her work, a task which she enjoys.

Moving on from Enlightenment, Sarah spoke about her most recent book, a memoir called Death of an Ordinary Man, due for release in early October 2025. The new book chronicles the writer’s experience of caring for her father-in-law at home during the final few days of his life. In contrast to the process of writing her novels, this book took just eight weeks to complete. Described as ‘an unforgettable account of this universal aspect of life’ this book focuses on family, care and love. Death of an Ordinary Man featured as Book of the Week on Radio 4.

Angela Bell