Take Four Books speaks to writer Gurnaik Johal about his debut novel ‘Saraswati’, a tale about a holy river that appears to resurface in modern-day India. The story begins with Satnam, a man living in Wolverhampton, whose life becomes entangled in the unfolding events. His journey leads him to discover six distant relatives scattered across the world, all drawn together in a rapidly changing India.‘Saraswati’ was shortlisted for this year’s Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize. The three books that influenced Gurnaik’s novel are: The Great Derangement by Amitav Ghosh; Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad; and Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz.The supporting contributor is multi-award-winning writer, Professor of World Literature and Creative Writing at Newcastle University, and BBC New Generation Thinker, Preti Taneja. Producer: Rachael O’Neill
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.
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28:42
Colm Tóibín
Presented by James Crawford, Take Four Books, speaks to the Irish writer Colm Tóibín about his latest novel - Long Island - and explores its connections to three other literary works. Long Island, now out in paperback, is the sequel to the best-selling novel Brooklyn, and we're back with Eilis Lacey. It's the spring of 1976 and one day, when her husband Tony is at work, an Irishman comes to the door asking for Eilis by name. What this man tells Eilis changes her life. And so begins Long Island which sees Eilis return to her homeland after decades abroad.
For his three influences Colm chose: The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy (1886); Victory by Joseph Conrad (1915); and The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (1920). The supporting contributor for this episode is award-winning novelist and short story writer Jan Carson.Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production for Radio 4.
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Madeleine Thien
Presented by James Crawford, Take Four Books, speaks to the writer Madeleine Thien about her new novel and explores its links to three other literary works. The Book Of Records is an epic, time-warping exploration of individual lives shaped by migration, exile, war and oppression. The book follows the story of Lina, a young girl who has been forced to emigrate from her homeland, and together with her father winds up at a mysterious place called 'the Sea', which turns out to be a shapeshifting and time-shifting fantasy of a refugee camp. Fictional characters are based on real people from history, we have the German philosopher Hannah Arendt fleeing Europe during the Second World War, the Jewish scholar and philosopher Baruch Spinoza, and the eighth century Chinese poet, Du Fu all coming to life on the page. The supporting contributor for this episode is the writer and lecturer Sarah Bernstein, whose 2023 novel Study for Obedience was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.For her three influences, Madeleine chooses: Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities (1972); Men in Dark Times by Hannah Arendt (1968); and Touch by Adania Shibli (2010).Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian WheelanThis was a BBC Audio Scotland production.
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Wendy Erskine
Presented by James Crawford, Take Four Books, speaks to the award-winning short story writer Wendy Erskine about her first novel - The Benefactors - and explores its connections to three other literary works. The Benefactors is a polyphonic immersion into modern day Belfast and follows the events surrounding a teenage house party. Three mothers close ranks against the girl who is accusing their sons of sexual assault. For her three influencing texts Wendy chose: The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas (2008); Chernobyl Prayer by Svetlana Alexievich (1997); and This Is The Place To Be, by Lara Pawson (2016).The supporting contributor for this episode was the journalist, writer, and author of Dance Your Way Home, Emma Warren.Producer: Dom Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.
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Elif Shafak
Take Four Books, presented by James Crawford, speaks this week to the award-winning writer, Elif Shafak, about her new novel - There Are Rivers In The Sky - and explores its connections to three other literary works. The new book spans centuries and moves from London to Turkey to Iraq as it follows three characters all connected by a single drop of water that once fell as rain in the ancient "land between rivers" that was Mesopotamia. For her three influencing texts Elif chose: the ancient odyssey believed to be around four thousand years old, The Epic of Gilgamesh; Orlando by Virginia Woolf from 1928; and The Flow: Rivers, Water and Wildness by Amy-Jane Beer from 2023. Recorded at the Hay-on-Wye Books Festival, the supporting contributor for this episode was the first ever national poet of Wales, Gwyneth Lewis, whose latest works include the memoir Nightshade Mother, and a new poetry collection entitled First Rain In Paradise. Producer: Dom Howell
Editor: Gillian WheelanThis was a BBC Audio Scotland production.
Presenter James Crawford looks at an author's latest work and delves further into their creative process by learning about the three other texts that have shaped their writing.
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