Emma Healey and Fiona Scarlett

On the first episode of Series 14, we welcome bestselling authors Emma Healey and Fiona Scarlett to the studio.

They chat about their new novels, give us some great book recommendations - and go head to head in a war of the words! (aka The Book Off)

Emma Healey's new novel - Sweat - is a maze-like game of revenge. It blends wellness culture with a slow-burn feminist thriller - and is eery and unsettling and brilliant. We look at what it means to hold the power in a relationship, what happens when power shifts - and - we talk about the gaze. The male gaze. Female gaze. And how looks can be both innocent and evil.

Fiona Scarlett's latest novel - May All Your Skies Be Blue - is beautiful and devastating and raw, and has an unforgettable cast of characters. We have a bit of a nostalgia trip, remembering gigs in the 90s, life without mobile phones and how fun it was to use the local phonebox! And we talk about the power of friendships, on the page and in life in general.

Both guests are huge readers, and like to read very widely.

Fiona likes to read a poem or play before she goes to bed - and recommended these: Marina Carr - "Audrey Or Sorrow" Bernard O'Donoghue - "The Day I Outlived My Father" Emily Bronte - "Wuthering Heights" (re-read)

Emma has been enjoying some non-fiction recently, and recommended: A. J. A Symons - "The Quest For Corvo" Stephen Scheding - "A Small Unsigned Painting" And has also been devouring this novel: John Lanchester - "The Debt To Pleasure"

THE BOOK OFF Martin Waddell - "Can't You Sleep Little Bear" (illustrated by Barbara Firth) VS Helen Garner - "Joe Cinque's Consolation"

(*We recorded this late in 2024 - so there may be a couple of out of date references)

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