When I Ran Away follows a woman's journey from 9/11 over fifteen years, leaving her country, husband and children in search of a new life. It covers themes of friendship, grief, humour in dark times, isolation, dislocation, mental health, motherhood, loss of self/redefining self.

Ilona Bannister is a New Yorker married to an Englishman and raising two young sons in South London. A dual qualified US attorney and UK solicitor, Ilona practiced UK immigration law, and her experiences as a lawyer working closely with families in difficult situations, as well as her life as an expat, have made her a keen observer of people and the struggles of outsiders.

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Andy Scott reads from his book London's Loveable Villain about his great-uncle Chick "Cocky" Knight aka "the Bear". Described as a real London character, boxer, bouncer, wrestler, lifesaver, villain but undoubtedly with a heart of gold - Chick saved at least 3 people's lives in dramatic circumstances. As a bouncer in Soho he took on four wielding knives and razors. As a professional wrestler he appeared all over the world, fighting all the great heavyweights in a 25 year career from 1932 to 1958, and in 1938 one of the first to appear on television.

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11 May, 7pm

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Lilian Pizzichini will talk with us about Mariella Novotny’s life, a life of intrigue, spying and crime...

In 1961 Mariella Novotny was engaging in sexual relations with President John F. Kennedy and believed to be a Communist agent. FBI officers called their investigation ‘The Bow-Tie Case’.

Two years later she was involved in the Profumo Affair. Then in the 1970s she began working undercover investigating police corruption in the Flying Squad. Her chief target was the author’s grandfather, Charlie Taylor, a London conman who had high-ranking officers in his deep pockets.

Mariella brought them all down and was found dead in February 1983. Christine Keeler said she was convinced it was murder, most probably by the CIA.

Mariella Novotny was embroiled in some of the top spy and crime stories of the day and in Lilian’s biography she emerges as the early embodiment of radical sexual politics.

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