Bookclub Folgen

Louise Doughty talks about her novel Apple Tree Yard, which went on to be a popular BBC television drama. It is the story of Yvonne, a high-flying married scientist, whose personal life is, by turns, erotic and troubled and, eventually, disastrous. Completely out of character, Yvonne has consensual sex with a stranger in the Palace of Westminster. So begins an affair with a man called Mark which in the end leads them both to the dock of the Old Bailey. Much of the book is told through Yvonne’s unsent emails to Mark. Through them we come to understand Yvonne - the conflicts between her professional and private life, the pressures on her and her family and the horror of an act of violence that becomes the hinge of the story. James Naughtie presents, and a group of readers ask the questions.Presenter: James Naughtie Interviewed guest : Louise Doughty Presenter: Dymphna FlynnJune's Bookclub choice : All That Man Is by David Szalay (2016)

Richard Holmes talks about The Age of Wonder, his non-fiction account of the Romantic age, as scientific and artistic thinking began to diverge. In the book he describes the scientific ferment that swept through Britain in the late-18th century and tells the stories of the celebrated innovators and their great scientific discoveries: from telescopic sight and the discovery of Uranus to Humphrey Davy's invention of the miner's safety lamp, and from the first balloon flight to African exploration.Holmes has also written biographies of the poets Coleridge and Shelley and he explains how The Romantics didn't believe in the modern idea that the arts and sciences are two cultures dividing us. The chemist Humphrey Davy wrote poetry and was good friends with Coleridge and they inhaled nitrous oxide gas together as part of Davy's experiments on its properties. Presented by James Naughtie and including questions from an audience of readers.Presenter : James Naughtie Producer : Dymphna FlynnMay's Bookclub Choice : Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty (2013)

Simon Mawer talks about Tightrope, an espionage story featuring the enigmatic agent Marian Sutro which is set during World War II and the years into the Cold War. Tightrope opens as Marian returns to England having survived Ravensbruck concentration camp. She had been parachuted into France by the Special Operations Executive and captured by the Germans in Paris. As peace comes Marian finds it impossible to adjust and find a role for herself. Then, enemies become friends, friends become enemies as an iron curtain is drawn across Europe. Spies are in demand. It is in the clandestine and secret world of the new espionage that Marian finds purpose and is recruited by the Soviet Union.Mawer's evocation of poor, battered post-war London, still a drab city of thick and clammy fogs won praise from critics, who also likened Marian to James Bond – both in terms of bravery and promiscuity. Marian walks the tightrope between the people in her life who have sent her into danger, those whom she must fear, and those she seeks to protect.Tightrope won the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction 2016. Presented by James Naughtie and including questions from an audience of readers.Presenter : James Naughtie Producer : Dymphna FlynnApril's Bookclub Choice : The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes (2008)