Award-winning authors, Donal Ryan and Elif Shafak, join Joe Haddow for a war of the words.
Elif's new novel - 'In One Brief Moment All Eternity' - is an imaginative re-telling of Flaubert's 'Madame Bovary' - told from 30 different characters. Some of them are based on real-life people, whilst others are completely made up (and not necessarily human!)
Donal's latest novel - "Where Are The Kings" - is a poignant coming-of-age story set in rural Ireland. It follows a young boy, navigating the tragic loss of his mother.
The authors discuss their books and the inspirations behind them, as well as touching on themes of grief and loss. They also talk about art, literature - and the awful stats of how many libraries are closing in the UK (and around the world).
THE BOOK OFF
'Johnny Got His Gun' by Dalton Trumbo
VS
'Homer-Haunted' by Henry Power
'Where Are The Kings' by Donal Ryan
Something terrible has happened to Jack but no one seems to want to talk about it.
His uncles can tell him about everything from quantum physics to how to hunt for deer, but they can’t seem to tell him anything about their own sister or why Jack doesn’t feel sad for her in the way he should, or why Grandad tries to shoot Jack’s dad when he gets out of the hospital.
Still, there’s work to be done in the oily wonderland of his uncles’ garage; there’s his beautiful aunt Rose to hypnotise him and his loving grandparents to console him; then there’s JJ, who wants to fight him one day and save him the next.
But with so many questions, in a family with so many secrets, it is difficult for Jack to understand the person he is becoming. How can a simple boy learn to become a king?
'In One Brief Moment All Eternity' by Elif Shafak
During a time of great turmoil, Gustave Flaubert created literature's most scandalous heroine: Madame Bovary. He then poisoned her with arsenic.
But what if, 175 years later, Emma – and the women history overlooked – could seize the quill from his hands and tell a different story?
In One Brief Moment All Eternity is a luminous reinvention of an iconic male writer, told through the eyes of the women – real and fictional – who shaped him: a devoted nursemaid, an Egyptian dancer and a passionate, jealous lover who refuses to be forgotten. Through their voices, visionary author Elif Shafak creates both an intimate portrait of a great artist and an epic meditation on storytelling itself: who gets remembered, who gets erased, and how can literature endure through political upheaval, war and injustice? When the world feels broken, how do we find the hope to carry on?
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