Sign in
Arts
Accessible Media Inc.
Join broadcaster Red Széll for My Life in Books, featuring one-on-one interviews with authors who discuss their life, works and three books that have resonated with them.
Deborah Moggach
In this episode, Red’s guest is Deborah Moggach, the author of 20 widely acclaimed novels and two collections of short stories. Deborah is also a highly regarded screenwriter; several of her books have been adapted for the screen, including "Tulip Fever" and "These Foolish Things," which became the box office hit "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel."Join Deborah and Red as they explore loneliness, desire, ageing and the pitfalls of having your book adapted into a Hollywood movie!
51:5930/09/2022
Ruta Sepetys
In this episode, Red is joined by best-selling author Ruta Sepetys, who has built an international reputation for shining a light into the darkest corners of 20th-century history and telling the stories of ordinary people resisting extraordinary brutality. To date, her five novels have been published in over 60 countries and 40 languages, and all have been recorded as audiobooks read by some of the best narrators in the business. Her latest book, ""I Must Betray You,"" transports us back to Romania in 1989. It’s a world of state-controlled paranoia in which spies are everywhere and personal freedom nowhere. Join Ruta and Red as they discuss how the power of testimony and storytelling can be used to heal the legacy of tyranny, and discover which ""The Sopranos"" actor narrated Ruta’s latest novel.
51:5915/09/2022
Louise Hare
"This month, Red’s guest is Louise Hare, whose atmospheric debut novel, ""This Lovely City,"" was set in bombed-out, post-war London and placed a young couple from the Windrush generation at the heart of a tender love story wrapped up in a whodunnit.The novel received rave reviews and Louise’s follow up, ""Miss Aldridge Regrets,"" was an eagerly anticipated treat that found its way into many-a-summer holiday suitcase. Set in 1936 aboard the ocean liner Queen Mary, it is a sparkling murder mystery, combining music and glamour with a probing exploration of race, class and pre-WW2 politics.Join Louise and Red as they explore the Golden Age of crime fiction, jazz and Art Deco, and the social divisions and suspicions that underpinned it."
49:5301/09/2022
AMI Presenters Special
This month, to celebrate the show’s first birthday, Red is joined by not one, but three guests, all of whom should be familiar to AMI listeners, and all of whom love talking books.Join Red round the table with fellow AMI presenters Dave Brown, Kelly MacDonald and Ramya Amuthan, as they explore the books they love and the changing ways in which they access them.
52:0124/07/2022
Lesley Krueger
This month, Red’s guest is award-winning Canadian author and filmmaker Lesley Krueger.
Her latest novel, "Time Squared," follows a reluctant time traveller across centuries and continents as she struggles for a sense of agency in a world dominated by patriarchal preoccupations.
If that sounds heavy, fear not, Lesley has a knack for blending the weighty topics she explores with a playfulness that makes her brand of historical literary fiction hard to put down.
Join Lesley and Red as they explore the liminal corners of life and art.
52:2823/06/2022
John Preston
This month, Red’s guest is John Preston, the award-winning journalist and author whose titles include "The Dig," "A Very English Scandal" and, most recently, "Fall: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell."
John has a gift for bringing historical characters back to life, exposing hypocrisy and subterfuge and for blending the tragedy and farce of human endeavour. He also has a wicked turn of phrase honed by his many years on London’s Fleet Street; of disgraced media mogul Robert Maxwell he writes, "His smile was like that of Richard III."
Join John and Red as they discuss larger-than-life characters, spectacular falls from grace and adapting the written word for the screen and audiobook.
49:3224/05/2022
Ellen Alpsten
This month, Red’s guest is Ellen Alpsten, whose meticulously researched historical novels, "Tsarina" and "The Tsarina’s Daughter," retell the extraordinary stories of the two women who ushered in a century of female rule in Russia.
Join Ellen and Red as they discuss hair-raising historical events and machinations at the Romanov court in 18th-century St, Petersburg that make Game of Thrones seem like a fairy tale.
48:2103/05/2022
Stuart Turton
This month, Red’s guest is Stuart Turton, creator of "The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle."
A mind-bending blend of the board game Clue, the TV show "Quantum Leap" and the movie "Groundhog Day," it quickly became an international bestseller, as did his follow-up "The Devil and The Dark Water," an equally compelling tale of murder, mayhem and fantastic goings-on set aboard a 17th-century merchant ship.
Join Stuart and Red as they discuss his work and discover how Agatha Christie, a notorious maritime incident, and a wall-papering table all played key roles in Stuart’s creative process.
50:1120/03/2022
Salley Vickers
"This month, Red is in conversation with Salley Vickers, the best-selling author of ""Miss Garnet’s Angel,"" ""The Librarian"" and ""The Cleaner of Chartres.""
Salley’s literary fiction blends historical, romantic and psychological themes and is informed by her training as a psychotherapist, meaning that she has a keen eye for what makes her characters tick, even if they don’t always share her insight!
Her latest novel, ""The Gardener,"" is her 13th, and has been described as ""an enchanting tale of the restoration of a garden, and a soul.""
Join Salley and Red as they discuss her work, and how a seed sown in her childhood germinated during lockdown to grow into ""The Gardener."""
49:3420/02/2022
Maggie Shipstead
This month, Red is in conversation with Maggie Shipstead, whose latest novel, ""Great Circle,"" was shortlisted for The 2021 Booker Prize.
Part historical fiction, part contemporary satire, it intertwines the story of a pioneering woman aviator with that of the Hollywood actress chosen to play her in a modern-day biopic.
Join Maggie and Red as they discuss her work, and the quest for a sense of perspective.
49:2623/01/2022
Alison MacLeod
This month, Red is in conversation with Canadian-British author Alison MacLeod, whose latest novel "Tenderness" weaves together fact and fiction to explore the genesis and repercussions of one of the most notorious books ever written: D.H. Lawrence’s "Lady Chatterley’s Lover."
Through her extensive research, Alison has uncovered not only an FBI plot to suppress "Lady Chatterley’s" publication on both sides of the Atlantic, but also the likely model for Constance Chatterley herself.
Join Alison and Red as they discuss how her findings fed into the creation of "Tenderness," and how the controversy surrounding "Lady Chatterley" exposed fault lines in 20th-century Western culture that continue to reverberate today.
49:3512/01/2022
Ursula Buchan
This month, Red is joined by Ursula Buchan, author of A Life of John Buchan: Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps.
With access to a family archive, much of which has never been published before, Ursula - the granddaughter of the man who invented the modern thriller - has produced a fascinating portrait of a remarkable man. In a life spanning just 64 years, Buchan was also a scholar, barrister, diplomat, literary critic, publisher, war correspondent, director of wartime propaganda, British Member of Parliament and much-loved Governor General of Canada.
Together, Ursula and Red will explore how, fueled by a passion for literature and literacy, John Buchan left a legacy that continues to inspire readers and writers today.
47:4522/11/2021
Mick Finlay
This month, Red is joined by Mick Finlay, author of the acclaimed Arrowood series of historical detective novels.
Set in Victorian London, his down-at-heel detective, William Arrowood, is a poor man’s Sherlock Holmes who makes no secret of his contempt and envy for his more famous rival.
With the publication of the fourth book in the series, Arrowood and the Meeting House Murders, Red felt it was high time to bring their creator in for questioning.
Together, Mick and Red explore some of the main themes and plotlines of the series, as well as the books that have inspired Mick as a storyteller.
49:1524/10/2021
Joanna Toye
This month on My Life in Books, host Red Szell is joined by Joanna Toye, a novelist who cut her writing teeth on the world’s longest-running drama series, The Archers, rising to become its leading scriptwriter, senior producer and its most trusted chronicler.
Since 2019, Joanna has been enthralling readers with her Shop Girls series of novels. Set in the fictional town of Hinton, just outside Birmingham in the English Midlands, the series follows the fortunes of the staff at Marlow’s, the town’s department store as they battle to keep calm and carry on during the Second World War. Packed with drama, social history, perseverance and a sense of community, the series has found a particularly receptive audience since the onset of the pandemic.
Together, Joanna and Red will explore some of the main themes and plotlines of the series as well as the books that have inspired Joanna as a storyteller. They will also be joined by narrator and voice actor Becky Wright, who brought the audiobook versions of the Shop Girls to life.
52:5526/09/2021
Who is Red Széll?
In this debut episode of My Life in Books, AMI-audio Manager Andy Frank turns the table on host Red Szell to introduce him to you! Using a similar format that Red will follow in future episodes, Andy learns about Red’s life, his own books, and three books that left a deep impression on him.
45:5910/09/2021