James Naughtie is joined by writer A J Pearce and a group of listeners, as she answers their questions about her bestselling novel Dear Mrs Bird. Set in London in the 1940s, it’s the story of Emmy who has ambitions to be an intrepid war reporter, but instead finds herself working as a secretary on the agony aunt pages of an old-fashioned women’s magazine. Her main duty is opening and sorting the post but Emmy just can't resist sharing her opinions... Dear Mrs Bird is a funny, heart-warming novel...
Dec 04, 2022•28 min
Juan Gabriel Vasquez answers audience questions about The Sound of Things Falling. Set in Colombia, the novel examines the personal and private impact of the drug wars that ravaged the country during the 1970s, 80s and 90s. It's the story of a strange friendship between two men, Antonio and Ricardo, told through Antonio's eyes. He sets out to investigate his friend's mysterious life, after Ricardo is murdered. The Sound of Things Falling is a powerful read about memory and storytelling, and abou...
Nov 06, 2022•28 min
Curtis Sittenfeld answers listener questions about American Wife, a novel which follows Alice Lindgren's path from school librarian to First Lady, and is based on the life of former First Lady Laura Bush. Our next recording is at Broadcasting House in London on 13th October 2022. Juan Gabriel Vasquez will talking about his novel, The Sound Of Things Falling. To take part and ask a question, email [email protected]
Oct 02, 2022•28 min
In a special programme first broadcast in 2013, Hilary Mantel discusses Bring Up the Bodies, her second Man Booker Prize-winning novel with James Naughtie and his Bookclub audience. England, 1535. A one-time mercenary, master-politician, lawyer and doting father, Thomas Cromwell has risen from commoner to become King Henry VIII's chief adviser. He learnt everything he knew from his mentor Cardinal Wolsey, whose place he has taken. Anne Boleyn is now Queen, her path to Henry's side cleared by Cro...
Sep 26, 2022•27 min
Bookclub travels to Edinburgh where Scotland's Makar Kathleen Jamie answers readers questions about her Selected Poems, and her writing life. Many poems here celebrate the natural world; Kathleen Jamie writes about animals and plants with a forensic and empathetic eye, often focussing on unloved and unsung creatures like daisies, spiders and frogs. In this collection there are also poems about the struggles of motherhood, and memories of her Scottish childhood - her friends, her family, her scho...
Sep 04, 2022•28 min
For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, James Naughtie is joined by an in-person audience who are putting their questions to Kevin Barry, about his novel Night Boat To Tangier. It’s a darkly comic, melancholy novel about two gangsters, Maurice and Charlie, waiting in the port of Algeciras, hoping to spot Maurice’s runaway daughter. And as they wait, they reminisce and swap stories. Our next Bookclub is recording at Greenside Parish Church in Edinburgh on Thursday 25th August at 7...
Aug 07, 2022•28 min
John Preston talks to a group of readers about his novel The Dig, a fictional take on the excavations at Sutton Hoo. Set in the summer of 1939, with war looming, the novel re-imagines this celebrated discovery of Anglo-Saxon treasure, The extraordinary finds attracted the attention of eminent professors and national museums but the original discovery was the work of a self taught local archaeologist, Basil Brown. And in The Dig, Basil is given his chance to tell his story, as one of the narrator...
Jul 03, 2022•28 min
Diana Evans answers listener questions about Ordinary People, her page-turner of a novel about contemporary black middle class experience in the London of today. An absorbing tale of two couples and their family, the novel documents their struggles with identity, parenthood, sex, grief, ageing, friendship and love. Next month's book: The Dig by John Preston. Email [email protected] to join the virtual recording or send in a question in advance.
Jun 05, 2022•28 min
Nick Harkaway answers listener questions about his extraordinary novel Angelmaker. A blend of fantasy, thriller and adventure the novel tells the stories of a young, disillusioned clock maker Joe Spork, former spy, ninety year old Edie Bannister, and the strange events that bring them together. Next month's book: Ordinary People by Diana Evans. Email [email protected] to ask a question.
May 01, 2022•28 min
Novelist Karen Joy Fowler joins James Naughtie to answer listener questions about her Booker shortlisted novel We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, a surprising story about an unusual family, and the lasting impact of an unconventional childhood. Narrator Rosemary looks back fondly on her early years with her sister Fern, but all is not as it seems. The novel has an unexpected twist and this programme contains spoilers. Our next read on Bookclub is Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway. Do get in touch...
Apr 03, 2022•28 min
Sarah Moss joins James Naughtie to answer listener questions about her novel The Tidal Zone - a story of healthcare, parenting, and the echoes of the past. Adam and Emma are parents to 15 year old Miriam and 8 year old Rose. One day, Miriam collapses at school: her heart briefly stopped beating. She is rushed to hospital. The Tidal Zone considers the impact of this event on Miriam, and all of her family, as they spend time in hospital and then learn to live with what has happened. Interwoven wit...
Mar 06, 2022•28 min
James Naughtie and a group of readers talk to Stacey Halls about her novel The Foundling, set in 18th century London. It's the story of Bess, who gives up her new born baby to the Foundling Hospital. When Bess returns six years later to claim her child, she finds that her daughter has been taken by someone else. Stacey answers listener questions about motherhood; her research; the sights and smells of Georgian London and writing from the point of view of two women, who are both fighting for the ...
Feb 07, 2022•28 min
James Naughtie and Bookclub readers talk to Abir Mukherjee about A Rising Man, the first in his Wyndham and Bannerjee detective series, set in Calcutta during the time of the Raj. Sam Wyndham is new to the police force and new to India. His sergeant, Bannerjee, offers him invaluable help not only with investigating a murder but also with navigating the complex political and social landscape of Calcutta in 1919. James Naughtie’s next guest on Bookclub will be Stacey Halls, talking about her novel...
Jan 02, 2022•28 min
James Naughtie is joined by bestselling writer Rachel Joyce who is answering listener questions about The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. This moving, heartwarming story follows Harold as one day he impulsively sets off on a walk from Devon to Northumberland to visit his long lost friend Queenie; despite having no map, no plan, and no decent walking boots. While he tramps across England, Harold reflects on his life, especially his troubled relationship with his wife and son. Our next Bookclub...
Dec 05, 2021•28 min
The History of Bees by Maja Lunde is set in three different times and in three different countries - nineteenth century England, present day Ohio and Beijing at the end of the 21st century. Each storyline considers the lot of bees and beekeepers: William is designing a new type of hive, George; in Ohio, is trying to stick with traditional methods even though beekeeping and farming are becoming increasingly industrialised and Tao, in 2098, works as a human pollinator as all all the bees have died...
Nov 07, 2021•28 min
Anthony Doerr talks to James Naughtie and a group of readers about his novel All the Light We Cannot See, which won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Set largely in St Malo in the 1940's, It tells the twin stories of Werner and Marie Laure,. They are on opposite sides during World War Two, but find themselves linked by a love of radio, and storytelling. Meanwhile, a Nazi officer is hunting down a diamond, which is said to be cursed. Anthony Doerr talks about how he tackled writing this highly...
Oct 03, 2021•28 min
Lissa Evans talks to James Naughtie and a group of her readers about her novel Old Baggage. Set in 1928, it tells the story of Matilda Simpkin, who was an activist during the Women’s Suffrage Campaign. Jailed five times, Mattie marched, sang, gave speeches and smashed windows, and nothing since then has had the same depth or excitement. After a chance meeting with 15-year-old Ida, she sets out on a new venture, starting a girls’ club to help young women gain and maintain independence. Old Baggag...
Sep 05, 2021•30 min
A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam is set fifty years ago, during the Bangladesh War of Independence. The conflict is seen through the eyes of Rehana, a fiercely protective mother, whose children join the fighting. Rehana, though not a natural revolutionary, becomes involved in the conflict herself, determined to do whatever it takes to keep her family intact. Tahmima Anam joins James Naughtie to answer questions from readers about this powerful, award winning book.
Aug 01, 2021•28 min
Francis Spufford’s novel Golden Hill won the Costa Book Award, the Ondaatje Prize and the Desmond Elliot Prize and was shortlisted for a host of others. It’s been described by critics as ‘a crackerjack novel of old Manhattan’, ‘Like a newly discovered novel by Henry Fielding with extra material by Martin Scorsese’, and ‘utterly captivating’. Francis joins James Naughtie and a group of his readers to discuss this novel set in the embryo metropolis of 18th Century New York. Presenter: James Naught...
Jul 04, 2021•28 min
Melissa Harrison is an acclaimed nature writer, novelist and podcaster. She joins James Naughtie and a group of her readers to discuss her novel All Among the Barley, set in Suffolk in the mid 1930’s. Centring on the experiences of teenage Edie Mather whose family have been farming the land for generations, the novel touches on the backdrop of shifting political and social change, as well as the dramatic change that’s just starting in the English countryside. Presenter: James Naughtie Producer: ...
Jun 06, 2021•27 min
James Naughtie and a group of readers talk to Australian author Liane Moriarty about her New York Times bestselling novel Big Little Lies. Set in the sunny world of Pirriwee Public Primary School in the beautiful North Shore area of Sydney, there’s a dark thread of hidden violence running under the surface of the novel. Liane Moriarty sets an unexpected murder against a wittily written chorus of gossipy and competitive school parents, effortlessly intertwining the darker undercurrents with a bre...
May 04, 2021•27 min
James Naughtie and a group of readers talk to Amor Towles about his bestselling novel A Gentleman in Moscow. The 30 year story of Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov takes in the sweep of Russian history from the period just after the Russian Revolution, through the Stalinist purges, and heading towards Kruschev’s thaw – all experienced thorough the lens of Rostov’s long house arrest in The Metropol Hotel. To join in future Bookclub programmes email us: [email protected] Presenter: James Naughtie Pro...
Apr 04, 2021•27 min
James Naughtie and a group of readers talk to award winning poet, novelist and essayist Kei Miller about his Forward Prize Winning poetry collection The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion. The collection is set on Jamaica and structured through conversations between the map maker, trying to organise and lay down history with a deep conviction of his own rational knowledge, and the rastaman, trying to explain a more spiritual way of knowing. Kei talks to James and the audience about his own ...
Mar 07, 2021•30 min
James Naughtie and a group of readers talk to acclaimed Irish crime writer Tana French about her novel The Wych Elm, which was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2018, and a Best Book of 2018 by NPR, The New York Times Book Review, Amazon, The Boston Globe, LitHub, Vulture, Slate, Elle, Vox, and Electric Literature. The Wych Elm is the first stand-alone novel from the author of the Dublin Murder series – and Tana French has been celebrated by writers including Stephen King, Gillian Flynn and...
Feb 08, 2021•27 min
Kazuo Ishiguro, Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, discusses his novel Never Let Me Go with James Naughtie and a group of invited readers. In one of the most acclaimed novels of recent years, Kazuo Ishiguro tells the story of Kathy, Tommy, Ruth and other school friends growing up in a darkly skewed version of contemporary England. Narrated by Kathy, now 31, Never Let Me Go is her attempt to come to terms with her childhood and adolescence at the seemingly idyllic Hailsham School as well as...
Jan 03, 2021•27 min
David Vann discusses his novel Legend of a Suicide with James Naughtie and this month's group of readers. Legend of a Suicide is an intimate and profound account of a family tragedy, told in six linked stories that deal with the complicated misunderstandings between a son and his father, and describes the love, guilt and the painful understanding that begins to come with adolescence. When it was published twelve years ago this autobiographical work of fiction was lauded as a groundbreaker; based...
Dec 06, 2020•28 min
Tayari Jones discusses An American Marriage, which won the Women's Prize for Fiction 2019. The novel tells the story of Roy and Celestial, a newly wed and successful African-American couple in Atlanta whose marriage is tested when the husband is imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. The book tackles the shadow cast by the judicial system over many African-American lives. Tayari tells Bookclub how the novel was inspired by an exchange she overheard between a man and a woman at a shopping mall....
Nov 01, 2020•30 min
Joseph O'Connor talks about his novel of Irish emigration at the time of the Famine, Star of the Sea with James Naughtie and readers. In the winter of 1847, the Star of the Sea sets sails from Ireland for New York. Among the refugees are a maidservant, a bankrupt aristocrat, an aspiring novelist and a maker of revolutionary ballads. As we learn each of their stories, we also learn how each is connected more deeply than they know. The novel has its roots in Connemara, with the characters being co...
Oct 04, 2020•28 min
Oyinkan Braithwaite talks about her novel My Sister, The Serial Killer, a story full of deadpan wit and dark humour about two sisters in Lagos. Korede is bitter and jealous of her beautiful sister Ayoola, who is the favourite child. A kind, handsome doctor at the hospital where Korede works is the bright spot in her life and she dreams of the day when he will realize they're perfect for each other. But after Ayoola's third boyfriend in a row dies, and the doctor asks Korede for her sister's phon...
Sep 06, 2020•28 min
James Naughtie and Louise Welsh discussed Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
Aug 10, 2020•27 min
