A talk by novelist William Keeling, Wed 6 December, 2023, BRLSI, Queen Square, Bath.

How closely should historical novelists remain true to historical facts and events when creating characters and plots? In this talk, novelist William Keeling explores the use and abuse of history. He shows how his novels, which are set in Bath, keep to, or sometimes bend the rules. Is there such a thing as historical truth, and where should the boundary be between fact and fiction? William Keeling is a novelist who lives and writes and Bath. He began his working career as a foreign correspondent for the Financial Times in West Africa and Indonesia. After breaking a multi-billion dollar corruption scandal in Nigeria, William switched from reporting on grim reality to writing light-hearted satirical novels set in late-Georgian Bath. Image: Stephen Games