Jessica Hepburn returns to Molesey Library

Regular supporters of our Author Events will remember the inspiring talk given by Jessica Hepburn - then Executive Director of the Lyric Hammersmith - on her first visit to Molesey Library. On that occasion she spoke to us movingly about her book The Pursuit of Motherhood which charted her experience of eleven rounds of unsuccessful IVF, multiple miscarriages and a pregnancy which almost proved fatal.

Following the success of that book, Jessica has become a leading spokesperson and campaigner on infertility and founded Fertility Fest, the world’s first arts festival dedicated to fertility, infertility, modern families and the science of making babies.

In her early forties, after her last unsuccessful round of fertility treatment, Jessica decided that it was time to move on and, in her new role of ‘adventure activist’, she has taken on some of the world’s most iconic endurance challenges to raise awareness and money for adults and children without the families they long for.

Her successes so far have included swimming the English Channel, running the London Marathon and climbing both Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa and the highest peak in South America.

Jessica will be returning to Molesey Library on Tuesday September 18, 2018 to talk to us about her latest book 21 Miles which draws its title from the distance she swam across the Channel.

As her punishing training for this challenge commenced, Jessica learned that she needed to put on weight to stave off the cold. And this led to another idea: what if she were to write to a collection of inspiring women and ask if they would meet and eat with her, and answer the question: does motherhood make you happy or can you have a fulfilling life without children?

21 Miles tells how Jessica ate 21 meals with 21 women, from baronesses and professors to award winners and record breakers, amazing women from different walks of life - and swam 21 miles to try and find an answer to this question.

Join us at Molesey Library on Tuesday September 18, 2018 at 7.30 pm to hear Jessica speak about her new book. Tickets cost £5 and are available from Molesey Library.