Mystery

Hi all, cost & info below, please do not miss this walk, it's magical! For centuries people have roamed at night through the dark alleys of London, so please join everyone for a fun 2.5 mile linear walk from Blackfriars to Farringdon, Lost London walk around Blackfriars, St Pauls and Clerkenwell by Lantern in the dark! (**Before this walk, in the daytime there is a wonderful Earls Court Walk. If you link both the walks together, this walk is HALF PRICE! There is a break in between the walks to eat or drink locally. The other walk is not far by the underground train, on the same train line)** Lantern Walk: Some brief local info along the way, it has wonderful hidden areas and I will show you the colourful highlights, lost alleyways and old cobbled streets and wonderful simply amazing things to see at night! I will show you the lost remains of a Palace and Monasteries, where the Monks roamed nearly 1,000 years ago, where hangings took place and remains of a medieval prison, where a medieval man is buried from the black death surrounded by candles, huge black death was ripe and thousand of people buried under our feet, where young Georgian teenagers would lure people into being robbed by Candlelight, where Cock fighting took place in pubs, backstreets and and hidden Churches. Great Atmospheric Pub afterward for a social get-together where food and drinks are available, 1 minute from the underground **WHERE TO MEET** **(Please allow 15 minutes to arrive before departure time)** Please meet outside the front of The Blackfriars Pub, which is directly opposite the station. 174 Queen Victoria St, Greater, City of London, London EC4V 4EG. I will be wearing a black top hat, black cloak and holding a lantern! Toilets entrance is located downstairs in the station or inside the pub. Walk ends at Farringdon Station **COST** £10 cash/card payment by simply turning up on the day. There is no charge to RSVP beforehand on the Meetup event. Walks are normally 90% full before the day, so an early RSVP is advisable to avoid disappointment. **AFTER SOCIAL DRINKS/MEAL (For attendees of the walk only sorry)** Crown and Pepper Pub, Unit 5 Cowcross St, London EC1M 6DQ **ABOUT OUR LONDON WALKS** It is a 15-year fascinating journey together to explore the whole of beautiful, enchanting Secret London. The only walking group in the World offering this unique experience! The individual walks have been created from an original route several miles in length (usually on average about 50 miles) where we have checked every nook and cranny, every hidden alleyway, lane, lost cobbled path, cul de sac, avenue, road or street in that area for you! It is then shortened, to give back to you a magical walk with all the best bits of 'Lovely London', voted the best City in the World for the 10th year running! What is given back to you is the most scenic, healthy walk (usually 3-6 miles in length) with some of the walks containing hidden cobbled lanes, lost shops, secret gems, areas lost in time, wonderful views, idyllic Instagram photo shots and all sorts! Now and then some brief local info is mentioned or something of historical importance along the way. You will have plenty of time to chat and meet new friends whilst walking the amazing lost areas of London! So we welcome you to the colourful highlights of this fascinating City of London with simply wonderful things to see! **TERMS AND CONDITIONS** PLEASE ensure ARRIVAL at least 15 minutes BEFORE the start of the walk, sorry no latecomers are accepted for whatever reason. Members attend the unique walks from our different meetup groups. IF LATE, SORRY WE ARE UNABLE TO RECEIVE CALLS OR ANSWER EMAILS AS WELCOMING MEMBERS, LEADING THE WALK, AND CONCENTRATING ON THE SAFETY OF THE GROUP. PLEASE DO NOT BE LATE, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CATCH THE GROUP UP, PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT. Part Tour - Medium pace walk from 'Visit England' Award-Winning Guide and our group featured in the National Press! Please Note: Some events, being a large attended meetup group will be an organised walk only, but members are very welcome to organise their own get-togethers after the event. You are required to be fit and healthy with appropriate footwear & clothing, responsible for meeting at the correct location, own safety and to not lose the group by viewing the organiser/making the organiser aware as much as possible, or follow/not lose sight of the person(s) from the same walk in front. We advise carrying water and some snacks. The organiser is also not responsible for any circumstances that may affect the group or personally such as personal accidents, rail information, engineering works, cancellations, rail strikes or delays, heavy traffic, tours affected, weather, walk paths or routes closed, postcodes for car parks or for when we arrive back at the station, or anything else not mentioned! By joining the event you agree to all the terms and conditions. No Dogs allowed sorry We really look forward to welcoming you on the walks/tours for a wonderful, great, fun day!

Details on the film + drinks before below. **PREMISE** Send Help Movie: A brutal island survival thriller where trust erodes, past wounds resurface, and the mind becomes the deadliest enemy. When Sam Raimi returns to the horror-thriller genre, expectations naturally run high—and Send Help does not disappoint. Slated for release on February 6, 2026, in the United Kingdom, this intense survival drama blends psychological warfare, dark humor, and relentless tension into one of the most compelling cinematic experiences of the year. Starring Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, and genre icon Bruce Campbell, Send Help transforms a familiar survival setup into a gripping battle of wills. What begins as a fight against nature slowly evolves into a disturbing confrontation between two broken people forced to rely on each other—or destroy each other—to survive. **TRAILER** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4wiXj9NmEE **CINEMA TICKETS** https://www.myvue.com/book-tickets/summary/10030/HO00020919/304791 **DRINKS** We can go for a drink before the movie at The Imperial. **SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN** 15.00 - drinks at The Imperial, 5 Leicester St, London WC2H 7BL 15.30 - film at Vue Cinema London - West End (Leicester Square) - 3 Cranbourn St, London WC2H 7AL **ADDRESS AND DETAILS** Vue Cinema London - West End (Leicester Square) - 3 Cranbourn St, London WC2H 7AL

Date/Time: Sunday 8 February 2026, 3 – 8pm (and likely later!) 20% off food and drink for our group First-timers: please see notes below on the Meetup fee, bringing boards, etc. ☺️ Dear Backgammon Lovers, We had a great turnout again on Sunday, and a big thank you to Lydia for covering the first few hours - much appreciated! Eight of our backgammoners headed to Steve’s jazz event on Monday and had a blast. Wouldn’t it be fabulous to combine backgammon and jazz someday? Well, maybe! We’re delighted again to announce our next social backgammon gathering at Gest Restaurant in Euston. For as long as they'll have us, we'll continue to use the CSC on other dates when available. Gest has become a favourite spot for our lively and friendly backgammon gatherings, offering more space and a relaxed atmosphere, with very wsrm and welcoming staff. Social Backgammon Whether you’re a seasoned player or completely new, everyone’s welcome. Our Sunday afternoon offers a mix of friendly competition, laughter and the occasional lucky double six. Add food, drinks and easy conversation, and you’ve got the makings of a relaxed afternoon rolling dice into a fun evening. 20% off food and drink Following intense negotiations, Gest has kindly offered our group 20% off food and drink for this event. Please support the venue by ordering at least a drink and a bite to eat during the session, as this will help us to maintain such a generous deal in a comfortable atmosphere. About Our Backgammon Group Our group started in June 2015 and has now run more than 400 official meetups plus over 200 informal gatherings. We are a few short of 2,000 members, we’re the largest backgammon group in the UK, and we're known for our warmth, humour and friendliness. We typically meet fortnightly on Sundays, with around twenty or so regulars along with new players each time. Everyone is welcome, whatever your level. Dinner, drinks and playing time We usually sit down for a relaxed group meal around 6pm, but you’re free to order whenever it suits you. Many people arrive early, stay late, and dip in and out of games between food and drinks. RSVP Please RSVP as soon as you can, as it really helps with planning, especially at this popular venue. Bring your own board If you have a backgammon board, please bring it. If you don’t, just post a note on the Meetup page or message me and we’ll match you up. It’s always fun to see the variety of boards people bring along. Meetup fee £4 per person. This small contribution helps pay Meetup, cover tip, admin, hosting and other organisational costs that keep the group running smoothly. Etiquette Let’s keep things friendly and respectful over the board, and please thank the lovely Gest staff for hosting us. If anything crops up during the event, just have a quiet word with me. Backgammon rules We play under international backgammon tournament rules, with one or two minor exceptions. Full details are on our Meetup page. Contact If you need help finding the venue or have any questions, call or text me on 07956 263451. Please avoid sending Meetup messages within two hours of start time, as they may not be seen in time. Looking forward to rolling dice and sharing another brilliant Sunday with you all – and to celebrating the New Year at Gest for the fifth time. Best wishes, Chris Sattaur 🤗

Hi all, cost & info below, please join everyone for a fun, healthy, scenic 3.2 mile or 5 mile walk with some brief local info along the way while meeting new friends! Highlights on this walk include enchanting Earl's Court with beautiful alleyways, mews, part of River Thames Walk and marina, Princess Diana's home in Earl's Court just before she got married. She mentioned in this area whilst at the flat was the best time of her life. (**After this walk, there is an amazing Lantern Walk from Blackfriars to Clerkenwell. If you link both the walks together, the other walk is HALF PRICE! There is a break in between the walks to eat or drink locally before the next walk and the other walk is not far on the underground train, on the same train line)** Daytime Walk: Some other great women who have changed the World, the beautiful London home of Agatha Christie, the former home of Beatrice Potter, Rosalind Franklin (whose work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA). A Banksy mural also a controversial Mary Poppins mural. Where the only first millennial saint of the 21st Century was baptised! Visit the astonishing, beautiful Brompton Cemetery (One of the Victorian Magnificent Seven), The Troubadour music cafe where Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Jimi Hendrix, Morrissey, Paul Simon and Adele performed, the grave of Emmeline Pankhurst and lots of other hidden gems. 3 mile ends at Imperial Whaft Overground Station. (Please note Princess Diana, West Brompton Cemetery, The Troubadour, Emmeline Pankhurst are not included in the 3 mile walk) 4.5 mile starts and ends at Earl's Court Station **WHERE TO MEET** **(Please allow 15 minutes to arrive before departure time)** Please meet outside the front of Earl's Court Station. Please take exit for Earls Court Road NOT Warwick Road. We will be meeting outside the very front of the station, directly opposite Paul's Patisserie and Gregg's Bakery **COST** £10 cash/card payment by simply turning up on the day. There is no charge to RSVP beforehand on the Meetup event. Walks are normally 90% full before the day, so an early RSVP is advisable to avoid disappointment. **AFTER SOCIAL DRINKS/MEAL** Courtfield Pub opposite Earls Court Station for 18 guests 187 Earls Court Road, Earls Court, SW5 9AN **ABOUT OUR LONDON WALKS** It is a 15-year fascinating journey together to explore the whole of beautiful, enchanting Secret London. The only walking group in the World offering this unique experience! The individual walks have been created from an original route several miles in length (usually on average about 50 miles) where we have checked every nook and cranny, every hidden alleyway, lane, lost cobbled path, cul de sac, avenue, road or street in that area for you! It is then shortened, to give back to you a magical walk with all the best bits of 'Lovely London', voted the best City in the World for the 10th year running! What is given back to you is the most scenic, healthy walk (usually 3-6 miles in length) with some of the walks containing hidden cobbled lanes, lost shops, secret gems, areas lost in time, wonderful views, idyllic Instagram photo shots and all sorts! Now and then some brief local info is mentioned or something of historical importance along the way. You will have plenty of time to chat and meet new friends whilst walking the amazing lost areas of London! So we welcome you to the colourful highlights of this fascinating City of London with simply wonderful things to see! **TERMS AND CONDITIONS** PLEASE ensure ARRIVAL at least 15 minutes BEFORE the start of the walk, sorry no latecomers are accepted for whatever reason. Members attend the unique walks from our different meetup groups. IF LATE, SORRY WE ARE UNABLE TO RECEIVE CALLS OR ANSWER EMAILS AS WELCOMING MEMBERS, LEADING THE WALK, AND CONCENTRATING ON THE SAFETY OF THE GROUP. PLEASE DO NOT BE LATE, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CATCH THE GROUP UP, PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT. Part Tour - Medium pace walk from 'Visit England' Award-Winning Guide and our group featured in the National Press! Please Note: Some events, being a large attended meetup group will be an organised walk only, but members are very welcome to organise their own get-togethers after the event. You are required to be fit and healthy with appropriate footwear & clothing, responsible for meeting at the correct location, own safety and to not lose the group by viewing the organiser/making the organiser aware as much as possible, or follow/not lose sight of the person(s) from the same walk in front. We advise carrying water and some snacks. The organiser is also not responsible for any circumstances that may affect the group or personally such as personal accidents, rail information, engineering works, cancellations, rail strikes or delays, heavy traffic, tours affected, weather, walk paths or routes closed, postcodes for car parks or for when we arrive back at the station, or anything else not mentioned! By joining the event you agree to all the terms and conditions. No Dogs allowed sorry We really look forward to welcoming you on the walks/tours for a wonderful, great, fun day!

**It’s that time again! With February now here, we're hugely excited to be hosting our latest Social Pub Quiz, exclusively for 20s and 30s.** Yep that's right, every month we host latest our very special creative and quirky pub quiz in Central London, just for our community. And as always, our crack team of quizmasters have concocted a range of entertaining and social quiz rounds, each designed to challenge your wit and intelligence with a range of fun and fascinating questions. And we'll also be throwing in some fun team games designed to test your speed, creativity and teamwork - with previous quizzes featuring everything from crafty challenges, poetry duels to Marmalade Sandwich time trials! Best of all, we have some amazing prizes up for grabs and so don't miss out on what promises to be a memorable afternoon of quizzing, socialising, and friendly competition. Unfortunately as the pub can only fit a limited number of us in for the quiz and so as always, places will be offered on a first come, first serve basis. **\- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \-** **WHERE/WHEN** Venue Address: The Star By Liverpool Street, 94 Middlesex St, London E1 7EZ ([https://maps.app.goo.gl/hcx4jN9BnqDry2Ws5](https://maps.app.goo.gl/hcx4jN9BnqDry2Ws5)) Nearest Tube Stations: Liverpool Street (5 mins walk) and Aldgate (10 mins). Start Time - 4:30pm Finish time: 7:30pm - 8:30pm (Approx) **\- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \- \-** **JOIN THE COMMUNITY** Set up in November 2021, the project was set up to help 20s and 30s in London meet, connect and hopefully build life-long friendships. To help make this happen, we also host all kinds of events from free social walks, games evenings, day trips, social events, activity nights to picnics. To learn more about our community or to follow us on social media, please follow one of the links below. **Website - [https://friendship-project.co.uk](https://friendship-project.co.uk/)** **Instagram - [https://www.instagram.com/great.friendship](https://www.instagram.com/great.friendship)**

**A gem of a life drawing session in our secret hideaway - a good vibes intimate sit down drawing session with wonderful models and lighting** Vaulty Towers really is a very special venue with a wonderful atmosphere- walk through the main bar with its glittery décor and down the little staircase into the twinkly hideaway downstairs where the life drawing magic happens! As with all our drop in classes- expect professional tutors and models in an inspiring and unique space. With poses from 30 seconds to one hour- there is something for everyone. This is a general life drawing class with tuition for beginners and advice for those who are more experienced, all designed to encourage you to develop your own style and approach. **Please don’t come to class if you feel ill- you can rebook to another date- just email info@londondrawing.com** Materials available to buy, or bring your own- Paper 20p per sheet, charcoal 25p per stick **Sunday Secret Sketch** **Every Sunday** **3.30-5.30pm** **£15 / £10 students and under 25's** **We also run [Saturday Secret Sketch session](https://londondrawing.com/buy-tickets-for-saturday-secret-sketch-including-session-information/)** **11-1pm Every Saturday** **And a second Sunday Secret Sketch** **1-3pm every Sunday** **Drop in and pay cash or paypal on the door** **PayPal link:** **[PayPal.Me](https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/LondonDrawing)** Or buy tickets here: [BUY TICKETS HERE](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sunday-secret-sketch-weekly-drop-in-life-drawing-waterloo-tickets-426778555147) **Venue:** **Vaulty Towers** **34 Lower Marsh** **London** **SE1 7RG**

Due to popularity our events often have a waitlist, but these new LoMAZ Unlimited events do not have a cap on numbers and are a social for everyone. **Join us on a visit to see fragments of the [Mausoleum of Halikarnassos](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/galleries/mausoleum-halikarnassos) in room 21 in the British Museum.** **This was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.** Built in the 350s BCE to contain the burial of Mausolus, the word 'mausoleum' came to be used for many above ground burial places. We are going to have a shorter look around this one gallery to spend time focusing just on the objects in this room. After the museum, we are going to walk to the large Wetherspoon's Penderel's Oak pub for a Sunday evening social afterwards. **MEET DETAILS:** **3:00pm: MEET IN COURT CAFES @ the British Museum** Meet us in the Court Cafés, which are located on the ground floor of the Museum's Great Court. Look for the LoMAZ sign and people wearing LoMAZ badges. **BETWEEN 3:30-3:45pm \~ GO TO ROOM 21 ON LEVEL 1, MAUSOLEUM OF HALIKARNASSOS** **4:30pm \~ PUB SOCIAL** We'll leave room 21 and the museum and walk to The Penderel's Oak for a social chit chat over drinks. Address: 283-288 High Holborn, London WC1V 7HP [https://maps.app.goo.gl/1PF1LDymBw8Jcabn9](https://maps.app.goo.gl/1PF1LDymBw8Jcabn9) **TICKETS:** Entrance to the British Museum is free. Booking a ticket at [https://www.britishmuseum.org/visit](https://www.britishmuseum.org/visit) is advisable to prevent queuing and ensuring entry. **GETTING THERE:** **Address:** British Museum, Great Russell St, London WC1B 3DG **Tube:** The four tube stations closest to the Museum are: * Tottenham Court Road: 5-minute walk * Holborn: 7-minute walk * Russell Square: 7-minute walk * Goodge Street: 8-minute walk **Bus:** The following bus routes pass within walking distance of the Museum. * New Oxford Street: 1, 8, 19, 25, 38, 55, 98, 242 * Tottenham Court Road (northbound) / Gower Street (southbound): 14, 24, 29, 73, 134, 390 * Southampton Row: 59, 68, X68, 91, 168, 188 **EVENT WHATSAPP GROUP:** Please join the event WhatsApp group to help you find the group on the day. Please let a host know if your WhatsApp name is different from your Meetup name, otherwise we'll assume you're a spammer and not let you in! ***WhatsApp Link will be posted in the event comments 2-3 days before the event.*** *Joining this WhatsApp group will make your phone number visible to other members in the group.* **GROUP RULES, PLEASE NOTE:** LoMAZ events are run by volunteers. We usually limit event numbers as we prefer a smaller, friendlier group. This event however will not have a waitlist as afterwards we are going to a large pub for a Sunday summer evening social afterwards. If you can no longer attend, please change your RSVP as soon as possible. We remove members from the LoMAZ Meetup group who: * RSVP as ‘Going' but then do not show up (without changing their RSVP) three times in a row * RSVP as ‘Going' but then change their RSVP to 'No' five times in a row * Turn up at an event without being on the 'Going' list (i.e. members who have not signed up or are on the waitlist) **Thank you for your interest in the group & being part of LoMAZ.** Image credit: Eric Pouhier, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Welcome back ramblers, rovers, loungers and loafers and happy 2026! It's a new year, but we're picking where we left off, in the onetime capital of cockney London with its dockworkers and gangsters, the Isle of Dogs - which became the landing-pad for an invasion of alien Thatcherites in the 1980s with the construction of Canary Wharf, which now towers over the council estates and parklands of this misunderstood peninsula. From there we'll head west, looking eventually to end up in the Brutalist wonderland (featured in Kubrick's *Clockwork Orange*!) of Thamesmead, possibly by way of the free Woolwich Ferry service from north shore to south. Meet at Canary Wharf station, out in front of the big curved class canopy. Elizabeth Line services at Abbey Wood will get us home. See you there! Check planned TfL disruptions here - our day should be all clear for most everybody: https://content.tfl.gov.uk/planned-track-closures.pdf A little background on our City Drifting project here: **Now just wait a minute. What the hell is a drift ([dérive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9rive))?** A drift is any unplanned journey through the urban landscape in which participants practice a form of radical mindfulness, collectively exploring new ways of relating mentally, ideologically and materially to the "ordinary" urban environment we all think we know so well. First theorised publicly by Situationist thinker, artist and provocateur Guy Debord in his 1956 essay *[Theory of the Dérive](https://libcom.org/article/theory-derive-guy-debord)*, drifting is a sort of *critique of ideology* done by walking, looking, and feeling. **The urban environment of London is not a neutral space:** it is packed with surveillance equipment, anti-homeless architecture, consumerist [Gruen transfers,](https://www.smartcapitalmind.com/what-is-the-gruen-transfer.htm) crowd management systems and security perimeters, among a thousand other subtle and not-so-subtle methods of population control. Moreover, our everyday relationship to the city and its pathways is conditioned deeply by our habits of movement and our habitual perceptions: our commute to work, to school, our nips down to the shops, etc. **All these routines create what Marxists call a *reified* relationship with the urban environment: through over-familiarity it becomes something seemingly natural, "just there", ordinary, unchangeable - boring.** This boredom and familiarity kills the radical imagination, without which we're fucked. To be able to start to imagine how society could be transformed, we also need to imagine how spaces, buildings, their use, their whole purpose (and who these serve) could themselves be transformed. A necessary step in this process, according to Debord and the Situationists, is the drift. Like the 19th-century gentleman *[flâneur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fl%C3%A2neur),* by wandering the city with an attitude of "fresh eyes", we can shake loose our ingrained sense of what London and its streets are like. **As a collective, we will work to "estrange our senses" and see the streets, buildings and people differently, as if we were encountering them for the first time.** That is to say: these aren't just random walks around London - with the right frame of mind, they will be opportunities to turn the world upside down, if only for a moment! But don't take it from me - as Debord observed: *"In a dérive one or more persons during a certain period **drop their relations, their work and leisure activities, and all their other usual motives for movement and action, and let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there.** Chance is a less important factor in this activity than one might think: from a dérive point of view cities have [psychogeographical](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychogeography) contours, with constant currents, fixed points and vortexes that strongly discourage entry into or exit from certain zones."* See you on the streets comrades, and remember, as [Raoul Vaneigem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raoul_Vaneigem) once wrote: *"All space is occupied by the enemy. We are living under a permanent curfew. Not just the cops — the geometry".*

Join us as we get together to see the steamy-romance-period-drama, WUTHERING HEIGHTS. Director Emerald Fennell gives us her take on the romance between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw from the classic Emily Bronte novel. Here’s a description, trailer and plan for this event: DESCRIPTION: The film tells a passionate and tumultuous love story set against the backdrop of the Yorkshire moors, exploring the intense and destructive relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw. The film is directed by Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman, Saltburn) and is loosely based on the classic novel by Emily Bronte. It stars Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, Alison Oliver, Owen Cooper and Hong Chau! TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fLCdIYShEQ PLAN: We’ll plan for a 7pm-ish showing and will meet inside the lobby area about 30 minutes before the show begins. Advance ticket purchase not required for this theater but early arrival is advised! Be sure to mention you’re with the Movie Group for admission and concession discounts! And, after the movie, don’t miss the best part of the night – food and drinks at the nearby Rusty Bucket! Complete details will be confirmed/announced as the date gets closer! Look forward to seeing you there, Dan

WQC has weekly Thursday night social nights at the Westerville Java Central. Come and grab a coffee and connect with the community: low stakes, chill environment, and tasty drinks. No registration is required; come as you are.

This month we’ll be reading Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan

Connected Westerville Night of Networking flips the script on networking, with surprises and connections that'll make you say, "Who knew networking could be this much fun?!"

**Our February novel is: Julia by Sandra Newman** **This month is a classic, dystopian, fiction, literary fiction, women’s fiction, and science fiction novel. The book is 394 pages in print and 14 hours and 20 minutes on audiobook.** **An imaginative, feminist, and brilliantly relevant-to-today retelling of Orwell’s 1984, from the point of view of Winston Smith’s lover, Julia, by critically acclaimed novelist Sandra Newman.** Julia Worthing is a mechanic, working in the Fiction Department at the Ministry of Truth. It’s 1984, and Britain (now called Airstrip One) has long been absorbed into the larger trans-Atlantic nation of Oceania. Oceania has been at war for as long as anyone can remember, and is ruled by an ultra-totalitarian Party, whose leader is a quasi-mythical figure called Big Brother. In short, everything about this world is as it is in Orwell’s 1984. All her life, Julia has known only Oceania, and, until she meets Winston Smith, she has never imagined anything else. She is an ideal citizen: cheerfully cynical, always ready with a bribe, piously repeating every political slogan while believing in nothing. She routinely breaks the rules, but also collaborates with the regime when necessary. Everyone likes Julia. Then one day she finds herself walking toward Winston Smith in a corridor and impulsively slips him a note, setting in motion the devastating, unforgettable events of the classic story. Julia takes us on a surprising journey through Orwell’s now-iconic dystopia, with twists that reveal unexpected sides not only to Julia, but to other familiar figures in the 1984 universe. This unique perspective lays bare our own world in haunting and provocative ways, just as the original did almost seventy-five years ago.