Celebrated historical novelist Phillipa Gregory speaks to James Crawford about her latest novel Boleyn Traitor and explores its connections to three other works of literature. Philippa’s intimate portrayals of the machinations of the Tudor court have made her a bestseller and a household name. In her latest dive in to 16th Century England, she returns to the world of King Henry VIII, seen through the eyes of Jane Boleyn, confidante to five of Henry’s six wives – but was she a loyal friend, or a duplicitous spy?For her three influences Phillipa chose: The Golden Bowl by Henry James (1904), A Room With A View by EM Forster (1908), and The Country and the City by Raymond Williams (1973).Producer: Caitlin Sneddon
Editor: Gillian WheelanThis is a BBC Audio Scotland production.
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32:51
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32:51
John Banville
Booker Prize winning Irish author John Banville speaks about his new novel Venetian Vespers and together with presenter James Crawford they explore its connections to three other works of literary art. Set in the year 1899, Venetian Vespers is told from the perspective of the unfortunate Evelyn Dolman, a self-confessed hack-writer who marries Laura Rensselaer, the daughter of a wealthy American plutocrat, but in the midst of a mysterious rift between Laura and her father, Evelyn’s plans of a substantial inheritance are thrown into doubt.For his three influences John chose: the Daphne Du Maurier short story, Don’t Look Now, from 1971, which is also the inspiration for director Nicolas Roeg’s classic film of the same name; The Aspern Papers by Henry James from 1888; and Death In Venice by Thomas Mann, from 1912.Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian WheelanThis was a BBC Audio Scotland production.
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28:03
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28:03
William Boyd
Booker shortlisted writer William Boyd speaks to Take Four Books this week about his new spy novel, The Predicament, and together with presenter James Crawford, and the crime writer Louise Welsh, they explore its connections to three other literary works. In his new novel, which is the second in a trilogy, travel writer turned accidental spy, Gabriel Dax, finds himself caught up in events in Guatemala, and then in Berlin, where he becomes aware of a plot to assassinate the charismatic, young president John F Kennedy. The stakes are high, the pace is fast, and Gabriel is finding the allure of his handler, Faith Green, difficult to resist. For his three influences William chose: Mountolive, published in 1958, and which is the third volume in The Alexandria Quartet series by Lawrence Durrell; Len Deighton's debut novel The Ipcress File from 1962, this was later turned into a film, of the same name, starring Michael Cane; and John Le Carre's iconic The Spy Who Came In From The Cold published in1963. Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian WheelanThis is a BBC Audio Scotland production.
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29:57
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29:57
Graham Norton
BAFTA Award-winning broadcaster and novelist Graham Norton discusses Frankie, his fifth novel, which centres on the life of an apparently unremarkable Irish woman in her eighties as she recounts her story to a young carer.Graham Norton shares the three key literary influences that helped shape the novel: Elizabeth Bowen’s The Last September (1929), Armistead Maupin’s Significant Others (1987), and Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (2022).Joining the discussion is acclaimed Irish author, poet, and LGBT+ activist Mary Dorcey.Producer: Rachael O’Neill
Editor: Esme Kennedy
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.
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28:35
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28:35
Ian McEwan
Booker prize winning author, Ian McEwan, speaks to Take Four Books, about his new novel, What We Can Know, and explores its connections to three other literary works. What We Can Know is set almost a hundred years in the future in a Britain much of which is now underwater, and it follows the character of Tom Metcalfe, a scholar of the University of South Downs, who is looking back at the literature of the early twenty-first century. For his his three influences Ian chose: a poem called Marston Meadows: A corona for Prue by John Fuller, first published in the Times Literary Supplement in 2021; The Immortal Dinner by Penelope Hughes-Hallett from 2000; and Footsteps by Richard Holmes from 1985. The supporting contributor for this episode is the writer Denise Mina, and it's recorded during the Edinburgh International Books Festival. Presenter: James Crawford
Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian WheelanThis was a BBC Audio Scotland production.
Presenter James Crawford looks at an author's latest work and delves further into their creative process by learning about the three other texts that have shaped their writing.
France