A Pair of Bookends

As there's no recorded episode this week and this is also the week of the 2024 Booker Prize shortlist announcement, I thought I'd take the chance to share a sneak peek of a recent Patreon episode where Emma and I chat about The Booker Prize longlist, the books we read from the list, our predictions for the shortlist (how many did we get right?) and the books we're excited to get to.  For more excl...

TW: This episode contains discussion around coercive control & male violence against women which some listeners may find distressing For today's Debut Spotlight episode Hannah was joined by debut author Rachel Blackmore to chat about her new novel Costanza They discuss the importance of representation of women's stories in history, the writing & research process of this book, the London Wr...

For this month's Book Club episode, Hannah was joined by Women's Prize long listed author of 'Small Pleasures' , Clare Chambers, to discuss her latest novel Shy Creatures .  They discuss the true stories that inspired her books, her research into psychiatry, why the suburbs is such a great setting to write about and lots more. If you enjoy this episode please do rate, review & subscribe as it'...

Welcome back Bookends! On today's Debut Spotlight episode, Hannah chatted to debut author Bruce Omar Yates about his new novel The Muslim Cowboy (Dead Ink Books)  (This discussion is spoiler free!) We discuss the various tropes of Westerns, the journey from song-writing to novel writing, the iconic camel character in Bruce's book & loads more! If you enjoy this episode please do rate, review &...

For today's Bonus episode before a little Summer break, Hannah was joined by the wonderful Claire Daverley, author of Talking at Night .  They discuss Summer reading plans, success after rejection, writing about OCD, the books Claire has loved this year & lots more, thank you also to those of you who submitted questions for Claire!  If you enjoy this episode please do rate, review & subscr...

For today's Debut Spotlight episode Hannah was joined by author and content creator behind @thechamberofsecretbooks on Instagram & @chamberofsecretbooks on Tik Tok to chat all about her debut novel 'I'll Look For You, Everywhere' which can be bought here . We discuss how her followers helped her throughout the writing process, what it was like to write those spicy scenes, her dream casting and...

For this month's Book Club episode Hannah was joined by 'Little Scratch' author Rebecca Watson to chat about her latest novel 'I Will Crash' (out now & published by Faber). We discuss what and who inspires her unique writing style, family estrangement and how pertinent that feels now following the story of Alice Munro, how it felt having her work adapted to stage and lots more! If you enjoy th...

For today's episode Hannah was joined by author of 'Above Us The Sea ', Ania Card. Aswell as talking about her journey as a debut author, we chat about immigrant representation (specifically Polish immigrants), how music and dancing were central to the novel, writing safe spaces for Queer characters and lots more. If you enjoy this episode please do rate, review & subscribe, it's a free way to...

Welcome back Bookends to another episode in our Debut Spotlight series, today I was joined by the wonderful Nikkitha Bakshani, author of Ghost Chilli , an incredible debut novel with a protagonist as memorable as the likes of Fleabag and Queenie.  In this episode we discuss creating characters through the lens of astrology, cultural and generational differences in parenting approaches and therapy,...

For today's episode Hannah was joined by Louise Candlish, a household name in the crime/thriller genre.  Hannah and Louise deep dive into Louise's latest book 'Our Holiday' (spoiler free!), we also speak about the real second home crisis that inspired the book, how the TV adaptation process is going, her literary influences and lots more!  Follow Louise via Instagram , Twitter and Facebook If you...

For today's episode Hannah was joined by the prolific Italian author & screenwriter, Ilaria Bernardini to chat about her novel 'We Will Be Forest' (Known in Italy as: 'Faremo Foresta') Ilaria was incredibly generous in sharing her experiences in this episode, most of which were huge inspirations for this book. We also discussed the differences between her work as a screenwriter and as a noveli...

On today's episode Hannah was joined by author and literary translator Sam Taylor to discuss his latest novel The Two Loves of Sophie Strom , which is out now and published by Faber! We discuss how the book went from being a Sci-fi novel when he first started writing 14 years ago to becoming a historical novel about Nazi Berlin, the differences between working as a translator and a novelist, how f...

For today's very exciting bonus episode Hannah was joined by the Women's Prize longlisted author of ' The Most Fun We Ever Had' Claire Lombardo to chat all about her new novel 'Same As It Ever Was' (out now in the US, published by Doubleday! UK folk you can pre-order!) We chat about her favourite family saga novels, writing 'nice' men & complicated women, her debut novel's upcoming adaptation...

To celebrate Independent Bookshop Week 2024, Hannah interviewed one of her local indie bookshops Serenity Booksellers. We chat about how Kelly and her partner Chris turned their bookshop dreams into a reality, what exciting things they have coming up, why it's important to support our indies and a HUGE list of book recommendations!  If you enjoy this episode please do rate, review & subscribe...

For today's episode Hannah was joined by Irish author Sarah Gilmartin, to chat all about her latest novel  Service (Pushkin Press, out now in paperback) Please be aware this episode contains reference to SA & statistics of SA cases We chat about what it was like to write from the perspective of a man accused of sexual assault, her experience of working in restaurants, how the Dublin Rape Crisi...

For today's episode I deep dived into the world of Romantasy with social media sensation Carissa Broadbent. We chat about why this genre is so successful, her writing process, what readers have to look forward to with the rest of the series and lots more! If you enjoy this episode, please do rate, review & subscribe so I can reach more of you!  The Serpent and the Wings of Night and it's seque...

Bobby Palmer is back on the pod! Back in November 2022, we chatted to Bobby about his debut novel Isaac and the Egg and had an absolute blast so it was only right to bring him back to chat about his second book Small Hours (out now) We chat about how his relationship with nature has evolved, writing about a memory loss condition, masculinity, writing his third book and all the book reccs your hear...

For today's episode Hannah and Ericka had a completely feral two hours of laughing and talking rubbish and somehow Hannah has managed to edit together an episode!  We chat about mothers and daughters, autism, death and grief and so much more, we hope you enjoy! Please do rate, review & subscribe as it helps us to reach more of you. You can follow us via Instagram , Twitter and Tik Tok For extr...

For our May Book Club episode we were joined by Women's Prize long-listed author Kirsty Capes, to chat about her new novel Girls , out tomorrow!  We chat about sisterhood, art, mental health, grief and so much more and 'Girls' is a devastating and remarkable book that we couldn't recommend enough.  You can follow Kirsty via Instagram or Twitter If you enjoyed this episode please do rate, review &a...

Some podcast updates & an exciting announcement!  Go follow over on Patreon to support us, it's been a v weird time and I hope you'll stay with me on this journey. Big love x

For today's episode in the Debut Spotlight series, I was joined by author Alan Murrin to chat all about his upcoming novel 'The Coast Road' which is out in the UK tomorrow (Bloomsbury). You can order your copy of The Coast Road here. We chat about our favourite Irish phrases, writing complicated women, that Gillian Anderson endorsement and much more. If you enjoy this episode please do rate, revie...

Welcome back Bookends to the first in the 4th season of our Debut Spotlight series, for today's episode Hannah was in conversation with author Nathan Newman! Aswell as deep diving into their debut novel 'How to leave the house', we chat about their experience of being mentored by Zadie Smith, adapting their novel for TV and life lived online. If you enjoy this ep, please do rate, review & subs...

For today's episode we were joined by New York Times bestselling author Sally Hepworth to chat all about her latest novel Darling Girls (as always, spoiler free!) We talk about her research into foster care, her infamous plot twists, how she writes a book every year and more! If you enjoy this episode please do rate, review & subscribe so we can reach more of you.  To buy Sally's book 'Darling...

Welcome to our April Book Club episode where Hannah spoke to bestselling thriller author Harriet Tyce about her latest novel, our book pick for April 'A Lesson in Cruelty'. We spoke about her journey from barrister to author, representation of criminals, why she chooses to explore alcoholism in her writing and much more, we also get a sneaky insight into what Harriet is working on next! If you enj...

Welcome back Bookends to the FINALE of Season 3 in our Debut Spotlight series, can you believe it?! For this episode we thought who better than Georgina Moore, her debut novel The Garnett Girls is a Sunday Times bestseller and not only that but Georgina is also an award-winning book publicist who has worked with prolific authors such as Maggie O'Farrell! We chat about what it's like working on bot...