Sarah Govett, a former pupil of LEH (1989-1996) and now author of young adult fiction, returned to the LEH – with baby Ned - to give a lunchtime talk as part of the English Department’s Literary Lectures series. 

An audience comprising girls from across the school, as well as staff, listened to Sarah’s overview of her dystopian trilogy, The Territory. Particularly illuminating were Sarah’s insights into the place of The Territory in terms of the dystopian genre, as well as the latter serving as a ‘mirror’ of social concerns. Some concerns which motivated Sarah to write the novels include global warming and the impact of public examinations upon young people. 

This was a highly engaging talk for which we are very grateful to Sarah.  The points that Sarah made about her career post-LEH, going on to read Law at Oxford before turning to writing and the influence of publishers on writers’ choices were most interesting and the girls were delighted to be able to purchase signed copies of The Territory novels.