Sara welcomes bestselling novelist Patrick Gale back to the Radio 2 Book Club.
They chat about his new novel, 'Love Lane', a sequel (sort of) to one of his earlier books 'A Place Called Winter'. Patrick explains what made him want to return to this story and the characters and talks about the incredible treasure trove of family trinkets and secrets that he inherited, which allowed him to write a story based on his own family history.
Patrick narrates the audiobook himself, so we hear a little clip of that - and - get some cracking reading recommendations from him as well!
Here's the blurb for 'Love Lane': A reunion. A journey. A longing for a place called home...
When veteran Canadian wheat farmer, Harry Cane is obliged to sell up and sail home to an England transformed by two world wars, his arrival triggers unwelcome self-examination for the family he abandoned, and for whom he has never been more than a distant myth.
His daughter feels duty bound to take him in but is riven with doubt and ambushed by a long buried anger she has never before expressed. Harry's effect on the next generation is less predictable, and enables his granddaughter to deal with an unspeakable trauma, while her gentle husband feels seen for who he truly is.
Can Harry stay and make a new life before it's too late, or will he find himself cast out again, punished for having witnessed and understood too much?