Take Four Books

The bestselling author of Hamnet returns with her tenth novel - Land - which is a soaring history set in Ireland in the years before and after the Great Famine. Maggie has sold more than eight million books worldwide and is translated into 44 different languages. She won the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2020.For her three influences Maggie chose: Joseph O’Connor’s Star of the Sea from 2002; Marie Heaney’s Over Nine Waves from 1994, which is a retelling of many of the Irish myths; and the non-fiction book, Map Of A Nation, by Rachel Hewitt from 2010.Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

Imani Thompson speaks to Take Four Books about her debut novel Honey. Together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other literary works. In Honey, PhD student Yrsa doesn't set out to kill. But after an incident involving a bee sting gone wrong, she suddenly feels alive. So she starts to think about what justice could look like, if she took it in to her own hands...Imani's three chosen influences for this episode are Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman from 2001; Girl by Jamaica Kincaid from 1978; and Your Silence Will Not Protect You by Audre Lorde from 2016. Producer: Caitlin Sneddon Editor: Gillian Wheelan This is a BBC Audio Scotland production.

The American writer Katie Kitamura speaks about her Booker-shortlisted novel, Audition, and together with presenter James Crawford they explore its connections to three other literary works.Audition begins with two people meeting for lunch in a Manhattan restaurant. The woman is an accomplished actress and she's meeting a man who is young enough to be her son. But who is he to her, and who is she to him? Two competing narratives unspool and the novel begins to rewrite our understanding of the roles we play every day.For her three influences Katie, who was a recent finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, chose: Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin from 1967, which was later made into a film directed by Roman Polanski; Tomorrow In The Battle Think Of Me, by Javier Marias, from 1994; and Bel Ami by Guy de Maupassant, from 1885.Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

The award-winning English writer Gwendoline Riley speaks to Take Four Books, about her new novel The Palm House, and, together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its three influences.The Palm House follows the friendship between Laura Miller and Edmund Putnam, known as ‘Putnam’, who both work in the London media landscape in 2017. Over the course of a long weekend, they meet several times for drinks and crisps, and discuss the state of their lives, and share stories from their past.Gwendoline Riley won the Betty Trask Award for her debut novel Cold Water in 2002. Subsequent works have seen her win the Somerset Maugham Award and she was recently given the prestigious Windham-Campbell Prize from Yale University in recognition of her life’s work to date.For her three influences Gwendoline chose: Annie Ernaux's short non-fiction book about her experiences of having an abortion called Happening from the year 2000; Charles Dickens's last completed novel, Our Mutual Friend from 1864; and Penelope Fitzgerald's novel Offshore from 1979, which won the Booker Prize that year.Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

Scottish novelist and poet Jenni Fagan tells presenter James Crawford about her new novel, The Delusions, in which she takes readers to the afterlife - or, at least, to its entry portal. It is a place where the newly dead are required to queue up and account for the truth of their lives - and extract all their delusions - if they are to have any chance of passing into eternity.Jenni’s three chosen influences are Nina Cassian’s poem Temptation (1966), Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), and Jeanette Winterson’s Weight (2005).Producer: Rachael O'Neill Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

Northern Irish writer and multi‑award‑winning novelist Jan Carson talks to James Crawford about her new book and the three key influences that shaped it.Her latest novel, Few and Far Between, transports readers to an alternative Northern Ireland, where the country’s great inland loch is partially drained in the 1960s, leaving behind a chain of islands that become a refuge for those seeking to escape political strife.For her influences, Jan chose: The Summer Book by Tove Jansson (1971); Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin (2017); and Excellent Women by Barbara Pym (1951).Producer: Rachael O'Neill Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

The Irish writer Colm Tóibín speaks to Take Four Books about his new short story collection, The News From Dublin, and together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other literary works. His new collection, published by Picador, consists of nine short stories, the last of which, The Catalan Girls, runs to a hundred pages and is about three sisters who have been living in Argentina and decide to return to Catalonia. For his three influences Colm chose short stories by three Irish writers: The Country Funeral by John McGahern first published in 1992; Frank O'Connor's Guests Of The Nation from 1931; and the Glasgow born Irish playwright and writer Eugene McCabe's Music At Annahullion from 1985.Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

American author Jennifer Niven joins Take Four Books to discuss 'Meet the Newmans', her brand new novel that follows the lives of America’s favourite television family in 1964. On screen, they present flawless versions of themselves, but away from the cameras the truth could not be further from perfect.During the episode, Jennifer discusses the three works that inspired her new book: 'Lessons in Chemistry' by Bonnie Garmus (2022); 'The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo' by Taylor Jenkins Reid (2017); and 'In Search of Donna Reed' by Jay Fultz (1998).Producer: Rachael O’Neill Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

Acclaimed author Ali Smith speaks to Take Four Books about her latest book, Glyph. Together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other literary works. Glyph tells a story hidden within Smith’s 2024 novel Gliff. Once again, the plot centres on two siblings and a horse, and delves into the power of storytelling.Ali’s three chosen influences for this episode are: The Wild Ass’ Skin by Honoré de Balzac (1831); A Book of Nonsense by Edward Lear (1846); and Strider: The Story of a Horse by Leo Tolstoy (circa 1886).Producer: Hayley Jarvis Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

In this episode the American writer Makenna Goodman speaks to Take Four Books about her new novel, Helen Of Nowhere, and together with presenter James Crawford they explore its connections to three other literary works. In Helen Of Nowhere, published by Fitzcarraldo, a disgraced professor is being shown around an idyllic house in the countryside by a realtor who speaks of its previous owner, the mystifying Helen. The professor is struggling with a growing sense of irrelevance and a failing marriage, but through hearing stories of Helen’s chosen way of living, the man begins to see that his story is not over – rather, he's being offered a chance to buy his way into a simpler life that until now has always been out of reach, but the asking price is much higher, and stranger, than anticipated.Makenna's three chosen influences were: The Man Who Planted Trees by Jean Giono from 1953; All About Love by Bell Hooks from 1999; and John, by the playwright Annie Baker from 2015. Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

Sir Salman Rushdie speaks to Take Four Books about his new collection of short fiction and together with presenter James Crawford they explore its connections to three other literary works. Arguably one of the world’s most celebrated authors, the publication of Sir Salman's second novel in 1981 announced the arrival of a phenomenal talent. Midnight's Children went on to win not just the Booker Prize but it was also picked as the Best Booker for the prize’s 25th and 40th anniversaries. In his latest work - The Eleventh Hour - Sir Salman showcases a quintet of stories that mix narratives of revenge, ghosts and magic into poignant reckonings with mortality. For his three influences Sir Salman chose: E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India from 1924; Franz Kafka’s Amerika from 1927; and Robert Browning’s The Pied Piper of Hamelin from 1842. Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

International bestseller Sir Alexander McCall Smith joines James Crawford to discuss The Private Side of Friendship, and shares the literary works that influenced it.After the acclaim of his his The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, Sandy has written over a hundred books, selling tens of millions of copies in English alone – not to mention the 46 other languages in which his work has appeared. In his latest novel, he is taking readers to a city he knows very well, as six young Edinburgh students embark on a flatshare, and navigate new friendships, against the backdrop of the social unrest of the 1980s miners’ strikes.For his three influences Sandy chose: The More Loving One by W.H. Auden (1957), Friends: Understanding the Power of our Most Important Relationships by Robin Dunbar (2021), and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (2011). Including an extract from the audiobook of Friends by Robin Dunbar, published by Hachette.Producer: Caitlin Sneddon Editor: Gillian WheelanThis is a BBC Audio Scotland production.

Award-winning Danish author Olga Ravn speaks to Take Four Books about her new novel The Wax Child and together with presenter James Crawford they explore its connections to three other texts. The Wax Child, translated by Martin Aitken, takes readers to 17th century Denmark, fictionalising the true story of a group of women in the town of Aalborg who were put on trial for witchcraft.For her three influences Olga chose: Ernesto Martino’s Magic – A Theory From The South from 1959; M. R. James’s Martin’s Close from More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary from 1911; and Janet Frame’s Faces In The Water, published in 1961.Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian WheelanThis was a BBC Audio Scotland production.