Join the HeritageXplore Book club
Now inside the HeritageXplore Club
The conversation has only just begun.
Since launching, the Book Club has built a global community of readers around some remarkable books - each one chosen for the way it unlocks a corner of British heritage, history, or the lives of the extraordinary people who inhabited it.
Each edition has run across two sessions, with the authors themselves joining us at the close of each season for an intimate online discussion. These have been some of our favourite evenings.
The HeritageXplore Book Club
The HeritageXplore Book Club brings together readers who love the stories behind Britain’s historic houses - the lives lived, the history made, and the literature that captures it all. Each edition, we read together, discuss together, and go deeper together.
We will be hosting special in-person events throughout the year for our most active book club members across Houses on HeritageXplore.
How the Book Club works
A new edition, four times a year.
Each season, we choose a book connected to heritage, history, or the remarkable lives behind Britain’s great houses - from biography and memoir to narrative non-fiction and historical writing.
Read at your own pace.
There’s no pressure, no homework. We share the book well in advance so you have plenty of time to read, dip in, or simply join the conversation.
Two live sessions per edition.
Each edition is anchored by two online discussion sessions, led by HeritageXplore Book Club Committee members. Our 2026/2027 Founding Committee will be announced very soon. Thoughtful, warm, and always worth an evening..
Meet the author.
At the close of each edition, often the author - or a speaker - will join us for an intimate online conversation. Past guests have included Hugo Vickers, Sean Lusk, and Lady Anne Glenconner.
Stay connected in between.
The Book Club WhatsApp community keeps the conversation going between editions - recommendations, thoughts, and the occasional brilliant tangent.
The Committee
Stella Long
An early and lifelong reader with a particular love of fiction and non-fiction exploring aristocratic life in the 18th century. When visiting a historic house, Stella delves into its architecture, history, and the lives of everyone who lived there - upstairs and downstairs alike. The HeritageXplore Book Club, she says, combines all her passions in one.
Aimée Coates
A heritage specialist copywriter with a background in English literature, Aimée is drawn to the relationship between spirit of place, memory, food, history, and everyday beauty - often inspired by the landscapes and traditions of the English countryside. She is passionate about preserving the stories and ways of living that might otherwise be lost to time.
Victoria Rose
Victoria's passion for heritage runs deep - from the sheer magnificence of historic architecture and stonework to the intricate beauty of a staircase leading to who knows where. She finds meaning in the smallest details: the patina of an old copper pan, the mists rising across a parkland at dawn, the way a corridor seems to hold the memory of centuries. Inspired by the great landscape pioneers - Capability Brown, Repton - and moved by the changing of seasons on ancient stone, Victoria believes heritage cannot fail to stir the soul. She is also, by her own admission, constitutionally incapable of leaving a gift shop without a jar of chutney.
Alice Tapfield
Alice's love of stories began in childhood, read to her by her mother - and she hasn't stopped since. Growing up in Glastonbury, a town steeped in Christian and pagan heritage, it was hard not to develop a fascination with the past. That fascination truly ignited when she read Sharon Penman's historical novel about Richard III, which led her, in 2015, to attend his reburial in Leicester. She now lives in New York City with her husband and daughter, who is already an avid reader herself - and she was delighted to find in HeritageXplore's Book Club a place to discuss heritage-based books with fellow bibliophiles from across the world.
The Book Club is now part of HeritageXplore Club
The HeritageXplore Book Club now forms part of HeritageXplore Club - our members’ club for people who want to go deeper into Britain’s independent heritage.
Membership is £20 a year - and alongside the Book Club, it unlocks a great deal more. Wherever you are in the world, there is a place for you here.