This week we discuss Sylvia Townsend Warner's Lolly Willowes. The illustrious Simon Thomas, our first-ever guest, helps us understand how the 1920s trend for the fantastic helped produce this weird, wonderful book about a spinster aunt who sells her soul to Satan. But is it satire? And is it really a feminist manifesto? We tackle these and other pertinent questions while having a laugh along the way. Butter your villager-shaped scones, sit back and enjoy the broomstick ride.
Professor of Russian José Vergara recommends a dark story of family betrayal. Shchedrin's 1880 novel follows the fall of a miserly matriarch and the...
We are joined by author Helen Macdonald to discuss T. H. White's The Goshawk, originally published in 1951. In this conversation, we talk about...
Author and critic Craig Brown joins us to discuss Kingsley Amis' novel Ending Up. The story follows a group of poverty-stricken elders as they...
