FaberBooks

The Sunday Sessions consists of twenty-six poems, the contents of two tapes recorded by Philip Larkin in Hull in February 1980, and contains some of his best known and well-loved poems. Only recently rediscovered, the tapes were originally published as a bestselling Faber audiobook, and are now being released as a special vinyl edition to reflect Larkin’s own love of record collecting. Beautifully...

The Sunday Sessions consists of twenty-six poems, the contents of two tapes recorded by Philip Larkin in Hull in February 1980, and contains some of his best known and well-loved poems. Only recently rediscovered, the tapes were originally published as a bestselling Faber audiobook, and are now being released as a special vinyl edition to reflect Larkin’s own love of record collecting. Beautifully...

The Sunday Sessions consists of twenty-six poems, the contents of two tapes recorded by Philip Larkin in Hull in February 1980, and contains some of his best known and well-loved poems. Only recently rediscovered, the tapes were originally published as a bestselling Faber audiobook, and are now being released as a special vinyl edition to reflect Larkin’s own love of record collecting. Beautifully...

Having previously covered the Victorians and the nascent years of the British Film Industry, in 'The West End Front' Matthew Sweet now turns his attention to the grand London hotels during the Second World War - a world within a world populated by an assortment of colourful characters: aristocrats, politicians, spies, dandies, conmen, abortionists, exiles ... rife with scandal.

In this short extract, Matthew Sweet talks about the central place of oral history in researching 'The West End Front', his new book exploring the shady demi-monde of the grand London hotels during the Second World War, a scene dominated by London's most colourful and notorious characters.

One of the most colourful characters to pass through London’s grand hotels during the Second World War was Stella Lonsdale. Did the tales she brought back from occupied France contain a grain of truth, or was she an accomplished and self-serving liar intent on outwitting the British Secret Services? Listen here to Matthew Sweet’s take on a beguiling but ultimately sinister woman, featured in his n...

In her latest book Fiona MacCarthy, one of this country's most distinguished biographers (Byron, Eric Gill, William Morris) explores the life of Morris's lifelong friend, Edward Burne-Jones. One of the Victorian age's most celebrated painters, and also a designer of everything from stained glass to slippers, he was a living embodiment of the quality that MacCarthy refers to as a 'very Victorian hy...

It's 1803, and Darcy and Elizabeth have been blissfully married for six years. But a murderer in their midst has other ideas ... 'Death Comes to Pemberley' is a brilliant new 'sequel' to Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' - but one with a deadly twist. In this extended interview, P. D. James shares her appreciation for Austen, and discusses the challenge of taking such a beloved work of fiction i...

'It was Bingley who broke the silence. "Some more music, if you please Miss Georgiana, if you are not too tired, but please finish your tea first. We must not impose on your kindness."' P. D. James reads an extract from her eagerly awaited new whodunnit, Death Comes to Pemberley.

Recorded at Topping's in Bath, shortly before a packed event, author Sebastian Barry discussed his latest novel, 'On Canaan's Side', with interviewer George Miller. It's a riveting, 30-minute conversation covering the shadow of events from Sebastian's own family's past in his fiction, and the repercussions of some quite extraordinary events. .

In the second part of October's Faber Podcast, Nicholas Rankin discusses his new book, 'Ian Fleming’s Commandos', a gripping account of 30 Assault Unit, which was set up by the future author of James Bond when he worked in naval intelligence during World War Two. This hush-hush band of never more than 300 men amounted to a private army that was never quite approved of by the top brass. In the inte...

In the first part of October's Faber Podcast interviewer George Miller talks to biographer and historian Tim Jeal about 'Explorers of the Nile', his account of the extraordinary quest by a small band of Victorian explorers who underwent almost unimaginable privations in order to be the first Westerner to reach the source of the White Nile.

In this extended interview, Michael Frayn talks about his childhood in leafy Surrey during the war and his relationship with his father, so memorably and movingly portrayed in his memoir, My Father’s Fortune. He also talks about the impact of the loss of his mother when he was twelve and his early ambitions to be a writer.

In our August podcast George Miller discusses gothic fiction with Richard T. Kelly, author of the spine-chilling The Possessions of Doctor Forrest>. First he talks to Matthew Hollis about his new book, Now All Roads Lead to France, in which he gives us the final years in the life of war poet Edward Thomas, 'the man with the keys to the Paradise of English Poetry'.

Matthew Hollis's biography of the great War Poet describes the final four years of Edward Thomas's life. Thomas died on the first day of the Arras Offensive in 1917, but prior to that had become one of the century's most influential poets - 'a hinge between the old and the new worlds'. And yet his poetry career only took off relatively late, the result of a productive friendship with American poet...

The tradition of the Gothic novel comes alive once again in this spine-chilling fable, a story of a disappearance, a diabolical bargain, and a terrifying series of physical transformations. Author Richard T. Kelly tells us more about his second novel, The Possessions of Doctor Forrest.

The author of several previous novels, Steve Sem-Sandberg has achieved international acclaim for his detailed, vivid and profoundly affecting portrait of the ghetto in the Polish city of Lodz in 'The Emperor of Lies'.Sebastian Barry called the book ‘monumental’; Carmen Callil compared his achievement in bringing a whole society to life to Dickens. It's an extraordinary work of fiction, and we were...

For this latest Faber Podcast we are joined by Jane Harris, whose second novel 'Gillespie and I' - a mysterious and enthralling tale set in Victorian Glasgow - was published recently, and by journalist and broadcaster Jonathan Glancey, who sheds light on the little-known region in northern India striving for independence for the past half-century, Nagaland.

Journalist and broadcaster Jonathan Glancey has been fascinated by Nagaland - the remote and largely inaccessible state in the north-eastern corner of India - since childhood. Locked in a war of independence for over 50 years, it's a region of great interest, but is surprisingly little-known. Jonathan Glancey tells us the true story of this forgotten land.

Recorded at the London Review Bookshop in May 2011. Discussing 'the good of the novel' is a panel of writers, publishers and critics, featuring James Wood, Lee Brackstone, Frances Wilson and Amit Chaudhuri. The discussion is chaired by Ray Ryan, co-editor of the book, The Good of the Novel, published by Faber and Faber.

Recorded at the London Review Bookshop in May 2011. Discussing 'the good of the novel' is a panel of writers, publishers and critics, featuring James Wood, Lee Brackstone, Frances Wilson and Amit Chaudhuri. The discussion is chaired by Ray Ryan, co-editor of the book, The Good of the Novel, published by Faber and Faber.

Recorded at the London Review Bookshop in May 2011. Discussing 'the good of the novel' is a panel of writers, publishers and critics, featuring James Wood, Lee Brackstone, Frances Wilson and Amit Chaudhuri. The discussion is chaired by Ray Ryan, co-editor of the book, The Good of the Novel, published by Faber and Faber.

Recorded at the London Review Bookshop in May 2011. Discussing 'the good of the novel' is a panel of writers, publishers and critics, featuring James Wood, Lee Brackstone, Frances Wilson and Amit Chaudhuri. The discussion is chaired by Ray Ryan, co-editor of the book, The Good of the Novel, published by Faber and Faber.

Recorded at the London Review Bookshop in May 2011. Discussing 'the good of the novel' is a panel of writers, publishers and critics, featuring James Wood, Lee Brackstone, Frances Wilson and Amit Chaudhuri. The session was chaired by Ray Ryan, co-editor of the book, The Good of the Novel, published by Faber and Faber.

Recorded at the London Review Bookshop in May 2011. Discussing 'the good of the novel' is a panel of writers, publishers and critics – James Wood, Lee Brackstone, Frances Wilson and Amit Chaudhuri. The discussion is chaired by Ray Ryan, co-editor of the book, The Good of the Novel, published by Faber and Faber.