Show Notes
Bestselling author Sarah Vaughan joins David Headley on Confessions of a Book Collector to discuss power, privilege, politics, morally difficult characters and the emotional truths hidden beneath public lives. From her years as a political journalist during the Blair era to the explosive success of Anatomy of a Scandal and its Netflix adaptation, Sarah reflects on the strange timing that turned the novel into a cultural phenomenon. David and Sarah also explore why “nice” characters rarely m...
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Before Olly Smith became one of Britain’s best known wine experts, he was writing scripts for Pingu. And now he’s turned to murder. For the series six finale, Olly joins David Headley to talk about Death by Noir, his first “wine crime” novel. He shares how its eccentric wine shop detective came to him, why wine lovers and book collectors have more in common than you might think, plus the surprising route that took him from screenwriting to putting his own spin on the crime fiction genre. Send...
Felix Mosse is a novelist, script editor and Associate Director of Criterion New Writing, one of London’s foremost programmes for emerging playwrights. Before turning to fiction, he spent 16 years as a professional actor, including playing Marius in Les Misérables. Felix joins David Headley to discuss the unexpected pause that led him away from the stage and towards The Mistral, the first instalment in his epic fantasy trilogy and an instant Sunday Times bestseller. He shares how more than 15...
David sits down with bestselling poet and playwright Nikita Gill as she prepares for the release of Styx: The River, the latest novel in her epic reimagining of Greek mythology. Nikita reveals why she was drawn to Styx: a powerful goddess eclipsed by her thousands of siblings, whose story allowed her to explore the very modern pressures of being an eldest daughter. From carrying everyone else’s burdens to swallowing your own rage and longing to be truly seen, Nikita explains the experiences t...
What happens when falling in love means walking away from the life you thought you were called to live? This week on Confessions of a Book Collector, David is joined by Stephanie Sy-Quia, author of Goldsboro's Fresh Ink book of the month choice: A Private Man, to uncover the remarkable family story behind her debut novel. Inspired by the revelation that Stephanie’s grandfather had been a Catholic priest before leaving the Church to marry her grandmother, A Private Man explores a love caught b...
This week, David has some rather exciting news to share. After months of work behind the scenes, Goldsboro Books is getting ready to begin not one, but two new chapters, each taking the business somewhere new, whilst staying true to the love of books, collecting and bringing readers together that has shaped Goldsboro since the very beginning. David reflects on how far Goldsboro has come since he and Daniel started the business in 1999, why physical bookshops and spaces for readers matter more...