Esther Freud, the author of Hideous Kinky and a Granta Best of Young British author, discusses her new novel with Bloomsbury Editor-in-Chief, Alexandra Pringle. Mr Mac and Me is an exquisite historical novel about the great Glaswegian artist Charles Rennie Macintosh, based on the period of his life he spent in the village of Walberswick in Suffolk.
Set on the Suffolk coastline in 1914, Mr Mac and Me is a compelling story of an unlikely friendship between ‘Mac’ and the young Thomas Maggs, a budding artist with a penchant for boats. To Thomas, Mac looks for all the world like a detective, in his black cape and felted wool hat, puffing on his pipe as if he’s Sherlock Holmes, and soon becomes a source of fascination and wonder to Thomas.
Esther Freud paints a vivid portrait of a home front community during the First World War, and of a man who was one of the most brilliant and misunderstood artists of his generation. It is her most beautiful and masterful work to date and she will be here at Bloomsbury to discuss it with you. Books will be posted to guests on publication, if booked in advance, and Esther will be happy to sign your book during the wine reception.
