The Literary Salon

This week we’re bringing you a brilliant, poignant and darkly comic novel by Irish author Alice Ryan.  Molly Black has been running away since her parents died. But this time, or so says her note, she's gone for good... There's Been a Little Incident is an award-winning debut novel about grief, family and the people who are there for you when you can't be there for yourself. 'Warm, wry and genuinely funny' - Marian Keyes Perfect for readers of Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan and Snowflake by Louise Nealan, we can’t wait for you to discover this fantastic book for yourself! There’s Been A Little Incident is published by Head of Zeus and available now in paperback in all good bookshops, or from our shop on Bookshop.org. Produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman Programmed by Matt Casbourne Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s time for some sex positivity! This week we’ve invited sex and relationship columnist Zachary Zane to read to you from his painfully funny memoir, Boyslut: A Memoir and Manifesto. The New York based author bares all in this memoir-manifesto, exploring how, even today, we live in a world that shames people for the sex they have and the sexualities they inhabit. Through the lens of his bisexuality and self-described sluttiness, Zachary breaks down how this sexual shame impacts our lives, and how we can unlearn the harmful, entrenched messages society imparts to us. We recently featured a very popular interview with Zachary on our Instagram Live, in which he opened up about his sexual experiences, exploring polyamory, orgies, anonymous encounters and his thoughts on how to lead a fulfilling sex life in a long-term relationship, not to mention bi-visibility and dismantling toxic masculinity. Do head on over to that after you've enjoyed this special podcast episode with a brilliant reading from Boyslut! ‘Reading about Zane’s own sexual adventures is like getting invited to Sunday brunch by your wittiest, sluttiest, funniest friend and getting to listen to him recount his crazy weekend.’ - Dan Savage Boyslut, perfect for readers of Unprotected by Billy Porter or Here for It by R. Eric Thomas, is published by Abrams Image, an imprint of Abrams & Chronicle Books. We recommend buying a copy from your local indie bookshop or you can visit our shop on Bookshop.org. Podcast produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman Programmed by Matt Casbourne            Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve got another page-turner on the podcast this week, this time by internationally bestselling author Joanne Harris!   In Broken Light, Bernie Moon has given her life to other people: her husband, her son, her friends. At nineteen she was full of dreams and ambitions; now almost fifty, and going through the menopause, she's fading, fast. When a young woman is murdered in a local park, it sparks a series of childhood memories and a talent that has lain dormant most of her adult life. But what will she do with this power and who will she become when she decides to use it..? Perfect for readers of Naomi Alderman’s The Power and Stephen King’s Carrie. 'Profound, moving and utterly unforgettable' - CATRIONA WARD Broken Light by Joanne Harris is published by Orion and available now. We recommend buying a copy from your local indie bookshop or you can visit our shop on Bookshop.org Podcast produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman Programmed by Matt Casbourne Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prepare to be dazzled by our Book of the Week, Eyes Guts Throat Bones, an anthology of macabre tales at the end of civilisation. Moïra Fowley's spellbinding imagination will captivate your senses in an irresistible collection that explores our darkest impulses and deepest fears, interlaced with stories of queer love.  ‘One of my favourite storytellers. These tales lingered, morphed, consumed me.’ Kiran Millwood Hargrave Eyes Guts Throat Bones by Moïra Fowley is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson and out now. We recommend buying a copy from your local indie bookshop or you can visit our shop on Bookshop.org. Podcast produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman Programmed by Matt Casbourne Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re delighted to bring you a new instalment of The Darkland Tales! In this series, leading Scottish authors offer dramatic retellings of stories from their nation's history, myth and legend. Last season we brought you Hex by Jenni Fagan. This season we’re spotlighting Nothing Left to Fear From Hell by award-winning author Alan Warner. In this story, Bonnie Prince Charles flees from the disastrous Battle of Culloden with a small band of companions through the mountainous landscapes of the north-west Highlands of Scotland. Dive into the past with this page-turning reimagining!  Nothing Left to Fear From Hell by Alan Warner is published by Polygon, an imprint of Scottish indie press Birlinn, and is available now. We recommend buying a copy from your local indie bookshop or you can visit our shop on Bookshop.org. Podcast produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman Programmed by Matt Casbourne Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Make room in your heart for our book of the week! Arthur and Teddy Are Coming Out by Ryan Love is the feel-good book you need to read right now. When 79-year-old Arthur comes out to his family the announcement is met with mixed feelings and leads his grandson Teddy to reconsider sharing his own secret... Now the two must navigate a new world of love, heartbreak and finding their place in the queer community.  ‘Uplifting and emotional’ Justin Myers If you enjoyed page-turning books like Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper or Beth O’Leary’s The Flatshare, you’ll love this novel.   Arthur and Teddy Are Coming Out is published by HQ, an imprint of HarperCollins, and available now. We recommend buying a copy from your local indie bookshop or you can visit our shop on Bookshop.org. Podcast produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman Programmed by Matt Casbourne     https://harpercollins.co.uk/collections/hq Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re bringing you a gripping literary thriller set in the world of dark academia, for fans of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History and Katy Hays The Cloisters.  In Joanna Margaret’s debut novel The Bequest, PhD student Isabel Henley arrives to study at St Andrew’s University but when her friend Rose disappears she must solve a 450 year-old mystery to save both their lives... 'Richly atmospheric and irresistibly readable' Joyce Carol Oates The Bequest by Joanna Margaret is published by Head of Zeus and available now. We recommend buying a copy from your local indie bookshop or you can visit our shop on Bookshop.org. Produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman Programmed by Matt Casbourne Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re beyond thrilled to welcome Max Porter onto the podcast to read from his highly anticipated and acclaimed new novel, Shy! Max is the bestselling author of Grief is the Thing with Feathers and Lanny. His latest story is about adolescent rage, struggles with mental health, imagination and coming-of-age in an alienating world, about being lost in the dark and the uncertainty of whether you’ll ever find yourself. ‘Shy is the strangest, most beguiling and affecting of all his books.’ Ian Rankin Shy by Max Porter is published by independent press Faber and available now. We recommend buying a copy from your local indie bookshop or you can visit our shop on Bookshop.org. Produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman Programmed by Matt Casbourne Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week’s episode is especially for fans of folklore and readers of marvellous myths. White Cat, Black Dog contains seven modern fairytales from Pulitzer Prize finalist Kelly Link, featuring illustrations by award-winning artist Shaun Tan. Each is inspired by a classic fable retold with a modern twist, breathing new life into old favourites with Kelly’s signature imagination and wit. If you enjoyed Salt Slow by Julia Armfield or The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter then this collection is for you! White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link is published by Head of Zeus and available now. We recommend buying a copy from your local indie bookshop or you can visit our shop on Bookshop.org. 'This book is sublime' - Emma Straub Podcast produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman Programmed by Matt Casbourne Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you could save the life of a loved one by trading in years of your own life, how many years would you give? How many lives could you save? Would you know when to stop? Francis Broad has negotiated the day of his death and now he must come to terms with the decisions he has made. Three Gifts by Mark A. Radcliffe is our thought provoking, page-turning book of the week. Published by Brighton-based independent publisher Epoque Press, this book is available now and will appeal to readers of The Lovesong of Miss Queenie Hennessey by Rachel Joyce and One Day by David Nicholls: both authors who we adore and have hosted on the Literary Salon. We recommend buying a copy of this beautiful book from your local indie bookshop or you can visit our shop at bookshop.org. Podcast produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman Programmed by Matt Casbourne Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We love platforming talented new voices on the podcast and this week we're thrilled to be joined by debut author Krystle Zara Appiah, as she reads from her new book, Rootless. When an unplanned pregnancy forces Efe and Sam to confront their differences, they’ll discover if what they really want is still each other… A poignant, heart-breaking story about a British-Ghanaian marriage in crisis, Rootless explores themes of friendship, family expectations, societal obligation and motherhood. But above all, it’s a story of love. Readers who loved Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson and One Day by David Nicholls will especially enjoy this gem. ‘A poignant debut which marks Krystle Zara Appiah out as one of Britain’s best new young writers’ - HARPER’S BAZAAR Rootless by Krystle Zara Appiah is published by The Borough Press and available now. Show a debut author some love and grab your copy from your local independent bookshop or from our shop on bookshop.org. Podcast produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman Programmed by Matt Casbourne Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to this special episode sharing a conversation between Jojo Moyes and Alex Clark about Jojo's new novel, 'Someone Else’s Shoes'! Jojo's novels have sold over 51 million copies worldwide, hit the Number One spot in 12 countries, have been translated into 46 languages and one of her bestselling books was adapted into a film starring Sam Claflin and Emilia Clarke. Someone Else’s Shoes is her 16th novel, and we were incredibly excited to have her on a special Instagram Live last month, just 24 hours after it hit UK bookshops! In the book we meet Nisha Cantor and Sam Kemp, two very different women whose lives become unexpectedly intertwined after a bag mix-up at the gym. Nisha lives the globetrotting life of the seriously wealthy, until her husband inexplicably cuts her off entirely. Sam is struggling to keep herself and her family afloat. Now Nisha’s got nothing and Sam’s walking tall in a pair of Louboutins that catch eyes – and give her career an unexpected boost. Except Nisha wants her life back - and she’ll start with her shoes . . .  Our guest host for this conversation, Alex Clark, is a journalist and broadcaster often seen in the pages of the Guardian, the Times Literary Supplement and heard on BBC Radio 4. A wildly experienced interviewer and chair of live events, her recent guests include Kazuo Ishiguro, Tessa Hadley and Melissa Harrison. We hope you'll enjoy this podcast of the Instagram Live interview, and do keep your eyes peeled on our Insta for more Lives with your favourite authors this year! Someone Else’s Shoes is published by Michael Joseph and available now. We recommend buying a copy from your local indie bookshop or you can visit our shop on Bookshop.org Podcast introduced, produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re delighted to welcome award-winning author Sebastian Barry to the podcast, reading from his new novel Old God’s Time. Recently retired policeman Tom Kettle is settling into the quiet of his new home, but when two former colleagues turn up at his door with questions about a decades-old case, one which Tom never quite came to terms with, he finds himself pulled into the darkest currents of his past... A beautiful novel in which nothing is quite as it seems, Old God's Time is about that which haunts us. Published by independent press Faber, you can buy a special signed Independent Bookshop edition of the book featuring exclusive endpapers through Booka Bookshop. And as always, copies are available on our shop on Bookshop.org. 'Full of love and heartache, this is an unforgettable novel from one of our finest writers.' DOUGLAS STUART Podcast produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman Programmed by Matt Casbourne Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you love literary memoir by newly discovered Irish authors then have we got the book for you! Carmel Mc Mahon’s In Ordinary Time is a revelation - a multi-layered exploration of memory, grief and addiction that mines the ways that trauma reverberates through time. From tragically lost siblings to the broader social scars of the Famine and the Magdalene Laundries, Carmel sketches the evolution of a consciousness – from her conservative 1970s upbringing to her emigrant’s tale in New York in the 1990s, and back to the much-changed Ireland of today. This is a perfect book for anyone who enjoyed Emilie Pine’s Notes to Self and Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These.  'A vivid, evocative and resonant counterpoint of time, memory and meaning' - JOSEPH O'CONNOR, award-winning author of Shadowplay In Ordinary Time by Carmel Mc Mahon is published by Duckworth Books - celebrating their 125th anniversary as an independent press - and available now. We recommend buying a copy from your local indie bookshop or you can visit our shop on Bookshop.org. Podcast produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman Programmed by Matt Casbourne Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Publicist to the stars, Georgina Moore, is our beloved guest of the week. Her debut novel The Garnett Girls is the most talked about book of 2023, and trust us when we say: believe the hype! The charismatic Margo is matriarch of the Garnett girls: Rachel, Imogen and Sasha, her three daughters who live in the shadow of their larger than life mother. But in the family home on the Isle of Wight, behind the lavish parties and casual acquaintances with handsome men, Margo is keeping a secret that gnaws away at her and is preventing each of the Garnett girls from finding true happiness. This is a story about mothers and daughters who learn that brave faces will only get them so far in life. Perfect for lovers of character-led novels, summers by the beach and books by Taylor Jenkins Reid.  The Garnett Girls by Georgina Moore is published by HQ and available now. We recommend buying a copy from your local indie bookshop or you can visit our shop on Bookshop.org. Podcast produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman Programmed by Matt Casbourne Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices