Summary: Hello and welcome back to You Wrote The Book, a book based podcast hosted by Simon Savidge. Each fortnight over the coming months he will be joined by a special guest author to discuss their life as a writer and as a reader, from the current novel they have published to the first book they read and everything in between. Simon’s guest for this episode is Natalie Haynes, a comedienne, classicist, journalist, reviewer and judge of the Orange Prize in 2012, the Man Booker in 2013 and currently judging the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. I’m not jealous at all. Somehow amongst all that she has managed to write her debut novel The Amber Fury. Anyone expecting a comedy or a farce after Natalie’s stand up days might be in for a shock as The Amber Fury is a gripping and often twisting psychological thriller centred around Alex, a woman running away from her past and the death of her fiancé, as she starts to teach a group of kids deemed difficult in The Unit, a place for kids no school will have. As she teaches them the classical tragedies little does she know there is a tragedy coming unravelling in front of her eyes. Simon had the pleasure of sipping water from huge wine glasses with Natalie at her publishers and started by asking her what she thought people might expect from a Natalie Haynes novel… In two weeks Simon will be joined by Naomi Wood to discuss Mrs Hemingway, a fictional account of the famous author’s wives. If you have any questions for Naomi, would like to suggest authors you think Simon should be getting on the show, or simply want to have a natter about books, you can email youwrotethebook@gmail.com or find us on twitter @youwrotethebook. If you want to hear Simon talking more books do join him every other week with Thomas Otto on The Readers Podcast, you can also find him chatting and reviewing book on his blog Savidge Reads. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes where you can find previous episodes with Christos Tsiolkas, Evie Wyld, Alan Bradley, Niccolo Ammaniti, Armistead Maupin, Hannah Kent, Joanne Harris, Patrick Ness, Damian Barr, Maggie O’Farrell and many more.
