An Evening with Manni Coe | Little Ruins
Manni Coe and the Dean on rebuilding from the ruins
On Monday 15 September, we had the honour of welcoming best-selling author Manni Coe to Southwark Cathedral for a powerful and deeply personal conversation with the Dean, The Very Revd Dr Mark Oakley. The evening marked the launch of Manni’s profoundly moving new memoir, Little Ruins: Rebuilding a Life.
Together, Manni and the Dean explored what it truly means to begin again—not just by rebuilding homes, but by piecing together a fractured sense of self, identity, and belonging. It was an evening filled with honesty, emotion, and reflection, as they navigated complex themes such as suicide, sexual abuse, domestic violence, coercion, and addiction.
The event left a lasting impression on everyone in the room—and we felt the conversation was far too important to leave there. So we invited Manni back to continue the dialogue for a wider audience through The Southwark Cathedral Podcast.
🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.
About the Book – Little Ruins: Rebuilding a Life
Set in the sun-soaked hills of Andalusia, Little Ruins tells the remarkable story of Manni Coe, his partner, and Manni’s younger brother Reuben, as they escape to a dilapidated 150-year-old farmstead affectionately named “The Corner.”
Amid olive groves and under soaring swallows, they begin the delicate work of healing—finding strength in stillness, in each other, and in the unpredictable rhythms of village life. But as the past resurfaces and a devastating event threatens all they’ve built, Manni is forced to confront what it truly means to come home.
Little Ruins is not just a memoir—it’s a courageous journey through trauma, love, and transformation. A story of how we rebuild, one small, beautiful piece at a time.