Move over non-fiction, we’ve got three novels that tackle big social issues in today’s episode! From violence against women in Murder After the Night Before, racist property laws in What You Leave Behind, and climate change in Troubled Waters, today’s episode proves that fiction can teach us and inspire us just as well, if not better, than non-fiction.

The One with the (Un)Likable Female Character with Katy Brent (0:21)

Do we need to like our main characters or can we just accept that we’re all a bit like Rachel’s trifle from Friends? In this segment, kindly sponsored by HarperCollins, Sally talks with Katy Brent, author of The Murder After the Night Before. They chat about unlikeable female characters, what we gain from true crime, and Katy’s favorite thrillers.

Heirs Property in What We Leave Behind by Wanda M. Morris (16:55)

Renee gushes about the new legal thriller What We Leave Behind by one of her favorite thriller authors Wanda M. Morris. To provide context for the premise of the book, she dives into what heirs property is, what makes it so complicated, and how it can impact the inheritance and legacy of Black families.

Lineage, Food, and Climate Change with Mary Annaïse Heglar (25:41)
Ashley speaks with the author of Troubled Waters, Mary Annaïse Heglar, about how food can be a connector among characters, how place is pivotal for storytelling, the history of climate change that we try to forget, and cli-fi as a literary genre.

Books/Resources Mentioned:

The Murder After the Night Before by Katy Brent

How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Hidden Homicides podcast

You by Caroline Kepnes (and the tv show)

The Boys

Killing Eve

Troubled Waters by Mary Annaïse Heglar

What You Leave Behind by Wanda M. Morris

Anywhere You Run by Wanda M. Morris

All Her Little Secrets by Wanda M. Morris

Renee’s podcast interview with Wanda M. Morris (from 2022)

Support this episode’s hosts and guests:

Follow Sally: Instagram // The StoryGraph

Follow Katy Brent: Instagram

Follow Renee: Instagram // The StoryGraph

Follow Ashley: Instagram // Twitter // Website

Follow Mary Annaïse Heglar: Instagram

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This episode was edited and produced by Renee Powers on the ancestral land of the Dakota people.

Original music by @iam.onyxrose

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