An Evening with Baroness Lola Young

We’re excited to welcome the esteemed Baroness Lola Young to our December Book Club, where she will showcase her latest work. Our host for the evening, Joe Haddow, will interview her about her writing journey and the inspiration behind her newest book. 

The event will include an audience Q&A, and attendees can purchase copies of Baroness Young’s latest book to have signed on the night. 

Joe Haddow, our fantastic returning host, is an author and broadcaster who runs the Radio 2 Book Club, chairs literary events across the UK, and hosts the popular Book Off! podcast. 

We recommend arriving early. Pre-drinks and refreshments will be available for purchase from 7pm. No pre-reading is required, just book your ticket and come along. 

Ticket price: £15.00

Baroness Lola Young 

Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey is a trailblazer, becoming one of the first Black women members of the House of Lords in 2004. Raised in foster care in North London, she pursued her passion for the arts by studying at the New College of Speech and Drama, later working as an actress. Her career shifted when she became Professor of Cultural Studies at Middlesex University, followed by a role in arts administration. 

Awarded an OBE in 2001, Baroness Young now serves as an independent crossbench peer, actively campaigning against modern slavery and advocating for ethical fashion. Her influence extends to the literary world, serving as a judge on the 2017 Man Booker Prize panel, and she is the current Chancellor of the University of Nottingham. 

Her remarkable journey reflects a lifelong commitment to social justice, education, and the arts. 

Eight Weeks: Looking Back, Moving Forwards, Defying The Odds 

A deeply moving and inspiring memoir that tells the remarkable life story of Baroness Young of Hornsey, from her childhood in foster care, to becoming one of the first Black women in the House of Lords. For readers of Lemn Sissay's My Name is Why, Kerry Hudson's Lowborn, Simon Woolley's Soar, and Diane Abbott's A Woman Like Me. 

Lola Young has been an actress, an academic, an activist and campaigner for social justice, and a crossbench peer. But from the age of eight weeks to eighteen years, she was moved between foster care placements and children's homes in North London. It would take many decades before she was able to begin the search for answers to the long-standing questions that would help her make sense of her childhood. 
 
In Eight Weeks, through her care records, fragments of memory, and her imagination where parts of her story are missing, Lola assembles the pieces of her past into a portrait of a childhood in a system that often made her feel invisible and unwanted. Alongside glimpses into her life as a peer, activist, and campaigner it tells the powerful story of her determination to defy the odds. 

Eight Weeks is a spirited, eye-opening and beautifully written account of being a child in care and a Black child in a white family and is a vital part of contemporary Black British history. 

"Lola Young takes us on a remarkable journey, both personal and political, that few have travelled but all can relate to. An inspiring story from an inspirational storyteller"  Gary Younge 

"A remarkable account of rejection, resilience and resolve. Lola has unashamedly let us into the vulnerability that came with her surpassing expectations and perfectly portrays the essential human need to belong" Michelle Gayle 

"A superb, moving memoir of a fraught childhood forging a great human spirit. Inspirational!" Baroness Helena Kennedy of The Shaws, LT KC 

Every ticket counts! At St Helen’s, everything we do is designed to enable pupils to become the best possible version of themselves. The funds raised from this event will support our ambitious Bursary and Scholarship programme; continuing our commitment to widening access to an exceptional education to all prospective pupils, irrespective of financial means or social circumstances. 

Books are available for purchase on the night, in association with Chorleywood Bookshop. 

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