Book Off!

International bestselling authors, Lisa Jewell and Shari Lapena, go head to head in a war of the words!

They join Joe Haddow to chat about their new novels, creepy houses, instagram life vs real life, and why some authors (mainly men) shouldn't write sex scenes in their books.

The authors also discuss how dark they will go in their own books, why they like reading really gruesome things, tell us about authors they admire - and give us some brilliant book recommendations too.

THE BOOK OFF
'Lie With Me' by Sabine Durrant
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'Five' by Ilona Bannister

And here's a little more about out guest's latest books!

'Getting Away With Murder' by Shari Lapena
Jill and Ted adore their New York brownstone the way others adore their children. They have carefully, expensively, made every inch of it their own. It reflects who they are, their status and tastes. With the grand mahogany staircase and state-of-the-art kitchen, it is the stuff of glossy magazines and real-estate dreams. It is their sanctuary.

So when Ted’s inheritance runs out and he makes a bad investment, they panic. How can they protect their beloved home and enviable lifestyle?
The answer is obvious. Or at least, it is obvious to Jill and Ted. The death of one wealthy family member could solve all their problems. Together, they will get away with murder.

As long as they trust each other. And as long as there are no surprises . . .

'It Could Have Been Her' by Lisa Jewell
Newly divorced and feeling a little lost, Jane Trevally agrees to accompany a man she doesn't know to his house in the darkest corner of Hampstead Heath.
She's offered a drink. She steps inside.And then she hears a scream.Jane runs.

Twenty five years later, Jane finds herself outside the same house, this time to return a dog who's been found near her home. A dog whose owner has just been reported missing. A fleeting glimpse of a haunted looking woman through the window sends Jane on a mission to uncover the house's secrets - secrets more terrifying than she could have ever imagined.

And she can't stop thinking: It could have been her . . .

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We're baaaaack! HELLO SERIES 16!

And for the first episode in our new series, authors Bobby Palmer and Claire Daverley go head-to-head in a war of the words.

They discuss their latest novels ("Main Characters" and "People In Love") and discover that they both have exactly the same taste in books!

Joe chats to them about rom-coms, Richard Curtis, and the many different beautiful and frustrating angles of writing about love. We also get some cracking book recommendations from them as well...and there are several cameos from Dougal the dog!

THE BOOK OFF
'Shark Heart' by Emily Habeck
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'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte

And if you liked the sound of Bobby and Claire's books - here's a little more info on their novels:

"People In Love" by Claire Daverley
One bright blue day, on a bench by the river, Nora’s partner Robin proposes.

It is unexpected; they’d always agreed that they didn’t need a wedding. But after a decade of in-jokes, dancing in the low-lit kitchen and sharing morning toast in bed, Nora says yes. Why wouldn’t she?

The answer lands on the night of their engagement party, when Bren turns up on her doorstep.

Growing up, Bren and Nora were the sort of best friends who everyone swore would end up together. But when a sudden heartbreak turned their lives upside down, Bren left, Nora stayed, and the silent longing between them remained unspoken.

Now, he’s back, and their tentative yet undeniable spark reignites, forcing Nora to ask herself:
How can you know your heart, if it feels like it’s split in two?

"Main Characters" by Bobby Palmer
Clara and Seb are about to fall in love. They don't know it yet. But everybody else does.

When Clara and Seb meet in a quiet corner of London, it's the start of something. She wants to be a director. He's an actor, unsure what he wants from life.

Their connection is magnetic. Everyone can see that falling in love looks something like this. But when Clara casts Seb in the film that will make her name, what should be the happiest time of their lives ends with a gut-wrenching betrayal.

Some love stories are bigger than just two people. This one is told through the eyes of friends, flatmates, exes and strangers who see all the sides of Seb and Clara, from their first date to the moment they fell apart.

Everyone has their version of events. But only Clara and Seb can decide how their story ends...
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Justin Currie - lead singer of Del Amitri - and Debsey Wykes - frontwoman of Dolly Mixture - join Joe for a natter about their memoirs, music, writing, forgotten histories and much more.

Justin talks about touring America, then and now, how the US took Del Amitri under their wings and, essentially, helped him buy a house!

Debsey talks about touring with The Undertones and U2, keeping an archive - and writing to remember.

They also recommend us some brilliant books that they have enjoyed recently!

THE BOOK OFF
'The Haunting Of Hill House' by Shirley Jackson
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'Train Dreams' by Denis Johnson

Here's a little more info on our guest's memoirs:

'The Tremelo Diaries' by Justin Currie
It’s 2022 and we join Justin at the doctor’s office, looking down the barrel of a Parkinson’s diagnosis. After concerned fans noticed a tremor in his hand, Currie sought the medical advice which led him to the discovery that would throw his future into uncertainty.

The immediate fallout of his diagnosis is laid bare in Currie’s candid, stream of consciousness voice. A voice that is also by turns poetic, self-deprecating and darkly humorous across a series of diary entries that capture Justin’s innermost feelings ― part travelogue, part confessional.

Following a coming to terms with the situation whilst on tour in the U.S, the second half of the story joins Currie in 2024, supporting Simple Minds on tour with Del Amitri. Anger, heartbreak and a looming sense of finality concoct a terse relationship between what once was and what may never be. Yet, page after page, what prevails is the achingly perfect timing of his acerbic wit.

The Tremolo Diaries is a beautiful and unique meditation on illness and aging. It is a twilight years reflection on band life in the 21st Century. It’s a travelogue around the world’s art galleries, parks, bars and sites of natural beauty. And most importantly, it is about love and friendship, adversity and courage, life and loss.

In a first-of-its-kind exploration of Parkinson’s by a multi-platinum selling musician, The Tremolo Diaries looks the dramatic irony of Currie’s affliction in the eye, puts down the guitar, and returns the needle to the start of the song.

'Teenage Daydream: We Are The Girls That Play In The Band' by Debsey Wykes
Debsey Wykes' memoir is a vivid coming-of-age story from one of the UK’s earliest female post-punk musicians. As bassist and vocalist in cult trio Dolly Mixture, Wykes was thrown into the male-dominated music world of the late 1970s, brushing against fame with an unlikely No.1 hit alongside Captain Sensible before finding long-term acclaim through her work with Saint Etienne.

Told with charm and defiance, the book revisits a youth shaped by DIY ethics, schoolgirl friendship, and the thrill of performance. It features appearances from key figures of the era — including Paul Weller, Madness, and The Pogues — and captures the spirit of a scene where handmade hula skirts met Top of the Pops.

Now performing with both Saint Etienne and her group Birdy, Wykes reflects on the enduring appeal of Dolly Mixture, whose reissues remain in high demand. Teenage Daydream is a rare, first-hand account of a woman forging her path through punk’s golden age.
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Two authors go head to head in a war of the words!

This week - Laura Evans and Pip Landers-Letts join Joe Haddow for a natter.

They chat about writing sapphic fiction, big skies, eerie landscapes, the Amazon Kindle Storyteller Award...and the joys of writing in Ikea!

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Multi-million selling superstar author, Ken Follett, returns to Book Off and goes head to head in a war of the words with author and artist Amy Jeffs.

Ken discusses his latest novel 'Circle Of Days' and his fascination with Stonehenge. He talks about the challenges of writing in different historic periods, deep research and how to turn lots of factual information into a brilliantly engaging, page-turning novel.

Amy chats about her book 'Old Songs', and her fascination with folk songs and ballads. Amy steeped herself in medieval history and has studied this period and the songs of this time extensively.

The two guests also give us some brilliant book recommendations - and Ken tells about his short-lived comedy writing career in the 70s!

THE BOOK OFF
'The Man Of Property' by John Galsworthy
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'Moonfleet' by J. Meade Falkner

But which one will win?

Here's a little more info on our guests' books:

'Circle Of Days' by Ken Follett
A FLINT MINER WITH A GIFT

Seft, a talented flint miner, walks the Great Plain in the high summer heat, to witness the rituals that signal the start of a new year. He is there to trade his stone at the Midsummer Rite, and to find Neen, the girl he loves. Her family lives in prosperity and offers Seft an escape from his brutish father and brothers, within their herder community.

A PRIESTESS WHO BELIEVES THE IMPOSSIBLE

Joia, Neen's sister, is a priestess with a vision and an unmatched ability to lead. As a child, she watches the Midsummer ceremony, enthralled, and dreams of a miraculous new monument, raised from the biggest stones in the world. But trouble is brewing among the hills and woodlands of the Great Plain.

A MONUMENT THAT WILL DEFINE A CIVILISATION

Joia's vision of a great stone circle, assembled by the divided tribes of the Plain, will inspire Seft and become their life's work. But as drought ravages the earth, mistrust grows between the herders, farmers and woodlanders - and an act of savage violence leads to open warfare . . .

'Old Songs' by Amy Jeffs and Gwen Burns
Old Songs fuses short stories, histories, lyrics and illustrations in an enthralling reimagining of traditional folk ballads. Sunday Times Bestselling historian Amy Jeffs and Illustrator Gwen Burns combine forces to create a rich compendium, singing of travel, mystery, magic and the essential urges of humanity.

Featuring iterations of fairy tales and sinister descendants of Greek myths and bible stories, as well as a cast of lesser-known characters with names like Tam Lim, Child Wynd and Maisery, Old Songs threads a tapestry of Britain's landscape, history and cultures. At the base of hills we can visit to this day, elf queens kidnap hapless poets and carry them through rivers of blood; and at the foot of a tree whose offspring still stand in the forests of Northumberland, a girl mimes combing the hairless head of a dragon who was once her brother.

In spellbinding tales of brown-skinned girls who danced on their lovers' graves, of golden-masted ships captained by the Devil, of fiddles that cried "Murder!", of men kidnapped by fairies and boys married at fourteen, we find narrative motifs as ancient as humanity itself.

In the histories interconnecting the stories, we find the fantastical rooted in the everyday, bringing to light the real experiences of great swathes of people to whom such story-songs were not only familiar, but a way of escaping into the extraordinary and returning gratefully home. Bringing enchantment to familiar landscapes, ballads were created anew by each singer and passed down from fireside to fireside, at the knees of childhood nurses, in manuscripts and in early printed pamphlets. Now, ten stories are gathered here, beautifully recreated for modern readers.
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