Bookclub

A treat from the Bookclub archive celebrating our 20th anniversary.

Colm Tóibín discusses his best-selling novel Brooklyn with James Naughtie and a group of invited readers. Brooklyn follows the fortunes of a young Irish woman Eilis Lacey as she leaves home to make a new life in 1950s New York. Arriving in a crowded lodging house in Brooklyn, Eilis can only be reminded of what she has sacrificed and left behind. Just as her homesickness abates and she takes tentative steps towards friendship, and perhaps something more, Eilis receives news which sends her back to Ireland where she will be confronted by a terrible dilemma. In Bookclub Colm Tóibín talks about the ongoing emigration from Ireland, especially at times of economic downturn and how Irish emigrants view home; and he notes how the tides have turned with the country receiving new immigrants from the eastern countries of the European Union in recent years.Brooklyn was nominated for the Man Booker Prize and won the Costa Novel Prize in 2009. This edition continues a summer of editions celebrating Bookclub's 20th anniversary. Presenter : James Naughtie Interviewed guest : Colm Tóibín Producer : Dymphna FlynnAugust's Bookclub choice : The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee (2014).

A treat from the Bookclub archive celebrating our 20th anniversary

Margaret Atwood discusses her dystopian masterpiece The Handmaid's Tale with James Naughtie and a group of readers. This edition celebrates Bookclub's 20th anniversary and includes contributions from former alumni of Bookclub such as Ali Smith, Eimear McBride and Evie Wyld; as well as the reading group made up of Radio 4 listeners. Thirty three years ago, Margaret Atwood published The Handmaid's Tale, a novel about a futuristic America, which following a major ecological disaster, is ruled by a brutal, misogynistic Christian theocracy called Gilead. In 2017 The Handmaid's Tale became a television series, going on to win eight Emmies. It followed the book closely, telling the tale of a society in which women are subjugated and not allowed to work or read, and valued only for their fecundity. The book has now found a new readership amongst a younger generation.The Handmaids - most prominently a woman called Offred, the narrator of the novel, are the few fertile women, who are assigned to the homes of married male rulers, and compelled to endure rape at their hands in the name of procreation.Margaret Atwood, who is one of the most celebrated novelists writing in English today, meets an invited audience of Radio 4 listeners, including sixth-formers and university students, to discuss the Handmaid's Tale.Presenter : James Naughtie Interviewed guest : Margaret Atwood Producer : Dymphna FlynnJuly's Bookclub Choice : Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín (2009).

William Trevor, a celebrated Irish short story writer, shares insights into his poignant collection 'After Rain.' He explores deep themes of love, loss, and redemption, reflecting on his Irish Protestant upbringing. The discussion touches on the complex dynamics of family relationships, revealing how circumstances can shape interactions. Trevor also emphasizes the importance of truth and craft in storytelling, likening the writing process to sculpting, where every detail is refined. Listeners are encouraged to delve into his evocative narratives.

Jo Nesbo talks to James Naughtie about his book, The Snowman.

A treat from the Bookclub archive to celebrate our 20th anniversary.

Sarah Perry speaks to James Naughtie about her novel, The Essex Serpent.

A treat from the Bookclub archive to celebrate our 20th anniversary

Patrick Gale discusses his novel, A Place Called Winter, set at the beginning of the 20th century. The life of Patrick's own great-grandfather Harry Cane provides the backdrop for a fictional story about the character Harry Cane, who leaves behind his wife and daughter in order to keep a scandalous love affair with another man quiet, and emigrates to the harsh wilderness of Canada.Harry signs up for an emigration programme to the newly colonised Canadian prairies. Remote and unforgiving, his allotted homestead in a place called Winter is a world away from the suburbs of turn-of-the-century Edwardian England. And yet it is here, isolated in a seemingly harsh landscape, under the threat of war, madness and an evil man of undeniable magnetism that the fight for survival will reveal in Harry an inner strength and capacity for love beyond anything he has ever known before. Patrick Gale describes how he followed in his great-grandfather's footsteps and travelled to Winter in Saskatchewan and learned about those pioneering communities and their relationship with the Cree, the Native North American tribe. And how the character Troels Munck was named for a Danish man who bidded to appear in Gale's next novel at a charity fundraiser. Presenter : James Naughtie Producer : Dymphna FlynnApril's Bookcub choice : The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry (2016).