‘This is a book of delights.’ John Simpson In Private Revolutions: Coming of Age in a New China, British-Chinese journalist Yuan Yang tells the fascinating story of modern China through the lives of four ordinary women. Leiya, born in a patriarchal rural village, bluffs her way onto the factory floor; June sets herself a goal […]

‘I was standing outside an apartment block that had been split apart by a missile. The words of a poem came to me when I could no longer find my own.’ In the four decades she’s spent as a foreign correspondent, Lindsey Hilsum has always carried a book of poetry with her. Poetry has helped […]

‘Did I have a grievance? Most of us, without looking far, could find something that had harmed us, and oppressed us, and unfairly held us back. I tried not to dwell on it, thought it healthier not to, though I’d lived my short life so far in a chaos of privilege and prejudice.’ One of the finest writers […]

‘Reminiscent of du Maurier and extremely hard to put down. The Blue Hour is destined to be a big hit.’ Mick Herron When a bone at the centre of a famous sculpture is identified as human, the life the recently deceased artist Vanessa Chapman led with her companion Grace on the remote tidal island of […]

‘This is what governs all of life. We agree to rules. Most of us. There are some, though, you know, who do not obey, who are not asked to observe them.’ When Brooke Orr starts a new job at the Asher and Carole Jaffee Foundation, helping an 80-year-old billionaire to give away his vast fortune, […]

“New technologies may divert our attention, but music created in the moment can still be found where it always has been, in the feet, fingers, voices and spirits of musicians in every corner of the world.” Legendary music producer Joe Boyd (White Bicycle: Making Music in the 1960s) invites you to open your ‘minds and […]

‘Some stories sink down into your bones.’ Award-winning novelist Susanna Clarke (Piranesi) joins us to discuss how writing and reading have shaped her life. From her worldwide bestseller Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, which celebrates its twentieth anniversary this year, to her enchanting new story The Wood at Midwinter. Discover the writers who’ve inspired Susannah […]