Radio Gorgeous

  The Eleventh Trade by Alyssa Hollingsworth with Hester Wolton Alyssa Hollingsworth’s debut novel, ‘The Eleventh Trade’ is a young adult’s book following the story of Sami, a young Afghan refugee, living in Boston with his grandfather as they attempt to build a new life there together. When his grandfather’s treasured instrument, a rebab, is…

  The Dark Side of Human Nature – Lucie Whitehouse KEEP YOU CLOSE Despite being blessed with a lovely family and a sunny disposition, as a writer Lucie Whitehouse likes going to the dark side of human nature. She sets her suspenseful pyschodrama in Oxford, among a family of artists and academics, in the town where…

    Gorgeous Reads: Sainsbury’s Magazine Books Page Selection: Helen Simonson, The Summer Before the War   Helen used her home town of Rye as a microcosm of England in the glorious summer before WW1, the dawning of war and its devastating aftermath. A beautiful romance with the deft touch and wit of Jane Austen;…

Author of the Week: Kati Hiekkapelto, The Defenceless Length: 20.00 Finnish author, punk singer (Radio Gorgeous endorsed Menopause PUNK!!!) and performance artist talks to Donna from the remote island of Hailuoto in the Gulf of Bothnia. When she was writing the second of her Anna Fekete thrillers she could not have foreseen the influx of…

  Love Second Time Around – write a romantic short story and have it broadcast!  THE SOPHIE KING PRIZE for AUTHORS, GORGEOUS GOSSIP with Josephine Pembroke and Sophie King. Sophie King gives away her hard earned secrets to us about how to write that book we all believe we have in us. This annual romantic fiction…

Award winning, Dutch playwright and author Esther Gerritsen, talks about her latest novel, Craving. You’d think it would be natural for a daughter to come to care for her terminally ill mother. However, if your daughter is Coco, her arrival at your death bed is more than a little complicated. ‏@WorldEdBooks www.worldeditions.org Here at Radio…

KATIE FFORDE – A Vintage Wedding an interview with Donna Freed Irrepressibly lovely Katie Fforde returned to Radio Gorgeous on the occasion of A Vintage Wedding. Between sips of champagne she tells us that her daughter and daughter-in-law were wonderful bridal inspirations. @KatieFforde www.katiefforde.com/ SIGN UP for more Gorgeous author interviews… www.radiogorgeous.com

Author and broadcaster Bidisha’s latest book, Asylum & Exile came out of her outreach work with asylum seekers and refugees in London. Through her teaching, she illicited beautiful, illuminating writing but more importantly she allows us to hear these unheard voices. Bidisha is one of those rare people with clear sight, about herself and those around her. @bidisha_online…

Journalist and author Valerie Grove delved into the correspondence and diaries of beloved author Laurie Lee. Lee created many myths about himself and Grove reveals, the sometimes more fascinating truths beneath the legend. Want more Author of the week? Join our mailout www.radiogorgeous.com  

Everything I Never Told You by CELESTE NG  Celeste Ng – Celeste Ng’s debut novel, Everything I Never Told You starts with the death of the favorite child of a Chinese American family. The story moves back in time and generations to see the hopes and expectations that led to this tragic point. A New…

Marina Keegan The Opposite of Loneliness Essay A talented writer who had interned at both the Paris Review and The New Yorker, Marina Keegan had also worked for literary critic Harold Bloom while at Yale University. One of her plays had been accepted at a major festival and she had a staff job waiting for her at The New…

Little Book of Chocolat by Joanne Harris & Fran Warde  To celebrate Joanne Harris’ sensually descriptive trilogy Chocolat, she and Fran Ward collaborated on a delicious book of chocolat lore and recipes from around the world. A chocoholic’s perfect fix! www.joanne-harris.co.uk/books/the-little-book-of-chocolat/ www.amazon.co.uk/Fran-Warde/e/B001HD0SJW @franwarde 

    Kristin Hannah – Author of the Week on Literary Lusts Donna has tea at the Corinthia Hotel in London with best selling American author Kristin Hannah.They swap stories about writing with their mothers and their own maternal fears as well as dealing with Dad’s dating.   kristinhannah.com Kristin has 105,249 likes on FACEBOOK!…

  Our week: 00.30 Tracy Bloom: 10.40 Josephine is not unique in envying the life of her dog but not for the reasons you might think. Listener be warned: fat lumps and manicures are involved! Donna is unconvinced. The indomitable Tracy Bloom returns to Gorgeous Gossip for a chat about her timely – if your name is…

Author of the Week: Jane Green’s Saving Grace First off: hats off to Jane Green for giving in and owning her curly hair – we salute you! Jane Green, along with Helen Fielding, is credited with giving birth to chick lit, however, both Jane and her work now have more depth. Donna surprised her with…

  Wellbeing: Survive and Thrive after Trauma with Healer Susan Cowe Miller We are very familiar with – and perhaps even inured to – the idea of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. However, the effects are real and can last in the victim for the rest of their lives. Susan Cowe Miller tells us her story…

Mona Simpson Casebook If you don’t know her, Mona Simpson may sound familiar because Homer Simpson’s mother was named after her or more impressively she is on her sixth novel. Her first novel, Anywhere But Here won the Whiting Prize and was turned into a film. At 25 she found – and recently lost –…

  Dinah Jefferies THE SEPARATION Author of the Week Resourceful Dinah Jeffries drew upon her early childhood memories of the last gasp of Colonial Malaya as the setting of her first novel The Separation. She was able to relive the past with her mother through old photographs but also drew on a tragic experience of…

PRESS the White triangle above to hear/ Length 26.03 Problems with the LINK ABOVE or WANT A PODCAST ? PRESS  THIS LINK   Susan Sellers, Professor of English and Related Literature at University of St. Andrews, has had a broad and varied career which has included bar maid and translator in Paris, Peru and Swaziland. It…

 PRESS the White triangle above to hear/ Length 27.28 Problems with the LINK ABOVE or WANT A PODCAST ? PRESS  THIS LINK Karen Swan who worked on Tatler and Vogue is interviewed here by Donna Freed talking about her fabulous Christmas book Christmas at Claridges. Set in London’s Portobello Road, Portofino in Italy and ending up…