A huge thank you to Jack Jewers for giving our St Olave Lecture after Choral Evensong on 10 November. Jack spoke about the joys and challenges of writing historical fiction – bringing to life one of our most famous parishioners – Samuel Pepys – as a super-sleuth who, in his latest novel, investigates a gruesome double murder in a building opposite the church on Seething Lane.

Jack explained that, for him, one of the great attractions of historical fiction is the opportunity for time travel. It is not necessarily about teaching people about the past, but taking them there – to drink the strong wine and smell the smoky air.

He described the extensive research he undertook into the backstage world of Restoration theatre, which provides a major setting for his latest novel. He also suggested that his books could be thought of as being set in the present – it is just somebody else’s present. After all, we are living through history just as much as our forebears did.

It was a joy to welcome such a bumper crowd to Choral Evensong and to the St Olave Lecture afterwards. Thank you to Jack for such an entertaining and thought-provoking evening, and to everyone who joined us.

Jack’s latest novel, Seething Lane, and his earlier novel, The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys, are available from all good bookshops.