Philosophical Fiction Book Club

This event is supported by The Royal Institute of Philosophy’s Local Partners Programme.

N.B.: this meeting will be held online via Google Meet. There is also an in-person session being held on Wednesday in the Prince of Wales pub near Covent Garden.

Our 2026 theme, 'Quest', takes a more inward turn this month. We join the residents of Imber Court, people yearning for spiritual meaning in a lay religious community, each pursuing their own paths to goodness and meaning. When art student Dora arrives, recently having left her husband, conflicts and secrets come to the fore, forcing the residents to confront one another and themselves.

The meeting starts at 7pm with drink breaks at 8 and 9. The discussion will end around 10pm, but leave whenever you need to.

Here's the blurb from Penguin.co.uk

Imber Court is a quiet haven for lost souls. It offers a sanctuary for those who can neither live in the world, nor out of it. But beneath the gentle daily routines of the community run currents of suppressed desire, religious yearning and a legend of disastrous love. Charming, indolent Dora arrives in the midst of all this, and half-unwittingly conjures these submerged things to the surface.

Our confirmed 2026 books are:

• January - The Wizard of Earthsea, Ursual K. Le Guin
• February - The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway
• March - The Bell, Iris Murdoch
• April - Haroun and Sea of Stories, Salman Rushdie
• May - Journey to the West/Monkey - Weng Cheng-En
• June - The Odyssey, Homer

This event is supported by The Royal Institute of Philosophy’s Local Partners Programme.

N.B. this meeting will be held in person in the Prince of Wales pub near Covent Garden. There is also an online session held on Thursday if you are not in London or are not able to attend in-person.

Our 'Quest' theme returns to the magical and otherworldly. Our second 'children's story' of the year that is also a collection of myths, fairy stories and a reflection on the immense power of stories - this one written at a particular pivotal point in the author's life. We will take a fantastical journey with Haroun and his father Rashid, who was once a great storyteller, as they try to recover his lost powers.

The meeting starts at 7pm with drink breaks at 8 and 9. The discussion will end around 10pm, but leave whenever you need to.

Here's the blurb from goodreads.com

Set in an exotic Eastern landscape peopled by magicians and fantastic talking animals, Salman Rushdie's classic children's novel Haroun and the Sea of Stories inhabits the same imaginative space as Gulliver's Travels, Alice in Wonderland, and The Wizard of Oz. In this captivating novel, Haroun sets out on an adventure to restore the poisoned source of the sea of stories. On the way, he encounters many foes, all intent on draining the sea of all its storytelling powers.

Our confirmed 2026 books are:

• January - The Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
• February - The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway
• March - The Bell, Iris Murdoch
• April - Haroun and Sea of Stories, Salman Rushdie
• May - Journey to the West/Monkey - Weng Cheng-En
• June - The Odyssey, Homer

This event is supported by The Royal Institute of Philosophy’s Local Partners Programme.

N.B.: this meeting will be held online via Google Meet. There is also an in-person session being held on Wednesday in the Prince of Wales pub near Covent Garden.

Our 'Quest' theme returns to the magical and otherworldly. Our second 'children's story' of the year that is also a collection of myths, fairy stories and a reflection on the immense power of stories - this one written at a particular pivotal point in the author's life. We will take a fantastical journey with Haroun and his father Rashid, who was once a great storyteller, as they try to recover his lost powers.

The meeting starts at 7pm with drink breaks at 8 and 9. The discussion will end around 10pm, but leave whenever you need to.

Here's the blurb from goodreads.com

Set in an exotic Eastern landscape peopled by magicians and fantastic talking animals, Salman Rushdie's classic children's novel Haroun and the Sea of Stories inhabits the same imaginative space as Gulliver's Travels, Alice in Wonderland, and The Wizard of Oz. In this captivating novel, Haroun sets out on an adventure to restore the poisoned source of the sea of stories. On the way, he encounters many foes, all intent on draining the sea of all its storytelling powers.

Our confirmed 2026 books are:

• January - The Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
• February - The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway
• March - The Bell, Iris Murdoch
• April - Haroun and Sea of Stories, Salman Rushdie
• May - Journey to the West/Monkey - Weng Cheng-En
• June - The Odyssey, Homer