A Lightborne Tour of London

Sometimes, book promo can actually be fun! Case in point: during my recent trip to London, I spent two days visiting some of the sites featured in Lightborne, from St. Helen’s Bishopsgate to Seething Lane, location of the Privy Court (Elizabethan MI5); from the Rose Playhouse to Deptford Strand, and Kit Marlowe’s final resting place.

I put it all together into two short videos which I’m posting below for the non-Instagrammers and -TikTokkers among us (seriously, all my respect).

There’s a slight misconception that all of medieval and early modern London has been lost, what with the fire of 1666, the Blitz, etc. In fact, a number of buildings survive, along with traces of the old neighbourhoods preserved in names, the layout of streets, even sometimes quite literally in basements. Please join me as I take you on a tour of some of these places, and offer a few brief insights into their connection to Christopher Marlowe’s story…

@hesse.phillips

Baby’s first TikTok! Join me as I take you on a tour of Elizabethan London as depicted in my debut novel Lightborne, out now from @Atlantic Books ! #historicalfiction #queerbook #lgbtqfiction #christophermarlowe #london #booktok #newbooks #novel #debutnovel #authorsoftiktok

♬ original sound – Hesse Phillips
  • Featured in Part 1:
  • Bankside
  • The Rose Playhouse
  • The French Huguenot Quarter/ Spitalfields
  • Bishopsgate/ St. Helen’s Church
@hesse.phillips

Part 2 of the #Lightborne Tour of London, where we visit some of the places where the novel is set, from Elizabeth’s Intelligence HQ to Deptford, where #christophermarlowe meets his untimely end. @Atlantic Books #historicalfiction #queerbook #lgbtqfiction #16thcentury #tudor #elizabethan #books #novel #debutauthor #booktok #authorsoftiktok

♬ original sound – Hesse Phillips
  • Featured in Part 2:
  • London Wall (Tower Hill)
  • Bishopsgate
  • Seething Lane (former site of the Privy Court)
  • St. Olave’s Church
  • The Golden Hind
  • Tower of London
  • Southwark Cathedral (St. Mary Overy’s)
  • Deptford Watergate
  • St. Nicholas’s Church Deptford
  • Christopher Marlowe Memorial (St. Nicholas’s Churchyard)