Episode 16
Coming up in the next episode of The Book Show - tune in at 7pm 19 February, Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts HD for the full story
In The Book Show with Mariella Frostrup this week are the queen of crime Val McDermid with A Darker Domain; Costa Book of the Year Award –winner Sebastian Barry with The Secret Scripture; and the empress of British cuisine turned novelist Prue Leith with Choral Society.
Tune in at 7pm 19 February, Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts HD for the full story
To read first chapters of the books featured in The Book Show for free, visit Lovereading.co.uk for a taste of what’s coming up!
If you liked Val McDermid’s A Darker Domain, here are a couple more hard-hitting mysteries to set your pulse racing:
Arnaldur Indridason : Arctic Chill
Arctic Chill is another crime novel that touches on social issues. An investigation by Reykjavik police into the murder of a young Thai boy unearths social tensions simmering beneath the surface of Iceland’s liberal, multicultural society.
Ann Cleeves: Raven Black
In Raven Black, fear takes over a small Shetland community. While walking home, Fran Hunter discovers the strangled body of her teenage neighbour with ravens circling overhead. The locals cast suspicion on one man – a loner, Magnus Tait. But as the police cast their net wider, the community is shaken by the fear that an unknown killer is in their midst.
If you liked Prue Leith’s Choral Society, here are a couple more novels that place the older woman in the forefront:
Liz Byrski: Gang Of Four
Isabel, Sally, Robin and Grace have been good friends for almost 20 years. They’ve supported each other through personal and professional crises from parents dying and children leaving home to house moves, diets and bad hair days. But now, at fifty-something, they start looking for answers to some tough questions.
Anne Tyler: Breathing Lessons
Maggie Moran is a wife, mother and an eternal optimist. During a journey to the funeral of a friend’s husband, Maggie’s hopeful and open nature is tested to the limit. Tyler places marriage under the microscope revealing the highs and lows of a relationship and the impact of children. Luckily after exposing the underbelly she also shows how a husband and wife can fall in love all over again.
If you liked Sebastian Barry’s The Secret Scripture, here are a couple more books by distinguished Irish writers which also made it to the Booker shortlist when published:
William Trevor: The Story of Lucy Gault
William Trevor explores the tensions in rural Ireland and the calamitous impact of one chance decision. Set in 1921, Ireland is in turmoil and Captain Gault has decided that his family must abandon their big house in Cork. But 8-year-old Lucy, desperate not to leave, decides to run away. Her action has devastating consequences.
Patrick McCabe: Butcher Boy
Butcher Boy, also set in Ireland, describes a descent into madness. Teenager Francie Brady survives an unstable family life thanks to his friendship with Joe Purcell but when the two boys commit a con trick, life for Francie goes downhill. Things get even worse following his mother’s suicide when, consumed by fury, Francie commits a horrible crime. His increasing mental darkness sees him committed to an asylum. But is this the place where he might find peace?
Bedside Table
We take a peek at the books keeping ‘Meltdown’ author Martin Baker awake at night:
Janet Gleeson: The Moneymaker
Patrick Suskind: Perfume
William Shakespeare’s Sonnets
Fine Line
Peter James reveals his favourite line from Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock.
Book Club
Nash Robbins of Much Ado in Alfriston in East Sussex recommends Juliet Nicolson’s The Perfect Summer for this week’s book club read.
Write Place
This week we venture into the A.C. Grayling’s study to see where his bestselling books are penned.
Guests’ literary heroes and heroines
Each week our guests tell us about their literary heroes and heroines. This week, Val McDermid’s favourite character comes from Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Sign of Four; Prue Leith has found a character to look up to in Marianne MacDonald’s The Lotus Eaters; and Sebastian Barry’s literary hero or heroine is from Joseph Conrad’s Victory.
Tune in at 7pm 19 February, Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts HD to find out who they've chosen!
