Take Four Books

Liz Nugent 19.07.2026 28мин

The award-winning Irish writer, Liz Nugent, speaks to Take Four Books about her latest novel, The Truth About Ruby Cooper, and, together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other works of fiction. Ruby Cooper and her sister, Erin, live an idyllic life in their close-knit church community in Boston. But when Ruby is sixteen, she is involved in an incident that causes her family’s world to implode.For her three influences Liz chose: Ian McEwan's Atonement from 2001, the book was later adapted into a film of the same name starring Keira Knightley and James McAvoy; Patrick McCabe's The Butcher Boy from 1992; and Patrick Süskind’s 1985 novel, Perfume.This episode was recorded in front of an audience at the Hay Festival 2026. Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

Elizabeth Strout 12.07.2026 28мин

Presenter James Crawford speaks to award‑winning American author Elizabeth Strout - winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and a two‑time Booker Prize nominee - about her new book The Things We Never Say and its three key literary influences.In Elizabeth's latest novel, we are taken to the New England coast, where we follow the life of history teacher Artie Dam, who is struggling to cope with the way the modern world is changing around him.Elizabeth’s three influences are The Stories of William Trevor by William Trevor (1983), Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (1925), and Middlemarch by George Eliot (1872).

Tahmima Anam 28.06.2026 28мин

The Bangladeshi-born British writer, Tahmima Anam, speaks to Take Four Books about her latest novel, Uprising, and together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other works of fiction. Set on a fictional, sinking island, Uprising, is told from the perspective of a group of children who witness their mothers living lives of cruelty and servitude. Tahmima Anam is a multi-award-winning writer and journalist. In 2013 she was named as one of the 'Best Young British Novelists' by Granta. She also holds a PHD in anthropology from Harvard University.For her three influences, Tahmima chose: The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka, from 2012; Sultana’s Dream by Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain from 1905; and Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed, also from 2012.This episode was recorded at the Hay Festival. Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

Maggie O'Farrell 21.06.2026 28мин

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.

Douglas Stuart 14.06.2026 32мин

The Booker Prize-winning Scottish author, Douglas Stuart, speaks to Take Four Books about his latest novel, John Of John, and, together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other works of fiction.John Of John follows the character of John-Calum Macleod who, when his art school education comes to an end, catches the ferry home to the island of Harris to find that not much has changed except for him. In the windswept croft where he grew up, Cal resumes his old life, caught between the two poles of his childhood: his father John, a sheep farmer, weaver, and pillar of their local Presbyterian church, and his Glaswegian grandmother Ella, who has kept a faltering peace with her son-in-law for decades.For his three influences Douglas chose: The Lost Language of Cranes, by David Leavitt from 1986; Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson, from 2004; and John McGahern’s Amongst Women, from 1990.This episode was recorded at the Hay Festival 2026.Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was an BBC Audio Scotland production.

Imani Thompson 31.05.2026 28мин

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.

Deborah Levy 24.05.2026 28мин

The award-winning writer Deborah Levy speaks to Take Four Books about her latest novel, My Year In Paris With Gertrude Stein, and, together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its three key literary influences. The new book follows three female friends in Paris. There's Eva an artist in a long-distance marriage, Fanny, a sexually adventurous financier, and making up the trio, is our unnamed narrator, who is attempting to write an essay about the avant-garde American poet and art collector, Gertrude Stein. The three friends cook, walk, argue and attempt to find a lost cat.Deborah's three choices in this episode are: Virginia Woolf's fifth novel To The Lighthouse from 1927; The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark, from 1961; and the poem Still I Rise by Maya Angelou which was published in 1978.Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

Katie Kitamura 17.05.2026 30мин

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.

Amitav Ghosh 10.05.2026 28мин

Presenter James Crawford speaks to award-winning novelist Amitav Ghosh about his new book, Ghost Eye, and its three key literary influences.Ghost Eye is told through the memories and recollections of its narrator, Dinu, who grew up in Calcutta and now lives in New York. Set during the COVID pandemic, the story unfolds as Dinu recalls a story his Auntie Shoma once told him - one that takes place in Calcutta in 1969. At the time, Shoma was a psychiatrist investigating cases of the reincarnation type, and her work led her to a particular case involving Varsha, a three-year-old girl.Amitav Ghosh was shortlisted for the 2008 Booker Prize for his novel Sea of Poppies, and for the International Booker Prize in 2015 for his entire body of work. He was also awarded the Erasmus Prize for his writing on climate change in 2024. For his three influences, Amitav chose: The Hungry Stones by Rabindranath Tagore (1895); The Willows by Algernon Blackwood (1907); and Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane (2025).Producer: Rachael O’Neill Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

Gwendoline Riley 26.04.2026 28мин

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.

Solvej Balle 19.04.2026 28мин

Presented by James Crawford Take Four Books speaks to the writer Solvej Balle from her home on an island off the coast of Denmark about her latest instalment of the 'On the Calculation of Volume' series. The novels tell the story of Tara Selter, an antiquarian bookseller who wakes up one morning to find she is endlessly reliving the same day: the 18th of November. Solvej's influences for this episode are all Danish. She chose: Stories About Tacit by Cecil Bødker from 2016, which is a novel about social outcasts who form a reluctant alliance on an abandoned farm in 1850s Denmark; Inger Christensen's poetry collection, Alphabet, from 1981; and a book of philosophy first published in the year 1843 - Either/Or - by the man often described as the 'father of existentialism' - Søren Kierkegaard.Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This is a BBC Audio Scotland production.

Jenni Fagan 12.04.2026 28мин

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.

Yann Martel 29.03.2026 34мин

The much-loved Canadian writer and former Booker Prize winner, Yann Martel, speaks to Take Four Books this week about his new novel, and first for a decade - Son Of Nobody - and together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other literary works. The book follows a classical scholar, Harlow Donne, as he gets a chance to study at Oxford and uncovers a lost account of the Trojan war. The fictional Homeric poem unfolds across the top of the page, while Harlow's often heartfelt footnotes, addressed to his young daughter, Helen, run below.Yann, who won the Booker in 2002 for his novel Life Of Pi, chose as his three influences: Stephen Mitchell's 2011 translation of The Iliad; Alice Oswald's Memorial, which is her translation of the Iliad's "atmosphere" and was also published in 2011; and Edward Albee's play Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf, which was first staged in 1962.Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

Jan Carson 22.03.2026 28мин

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.

Susan Choi 15.03.2026 34мин

The writer Susan Choi speaks to Take Four Books about her novel Flashlight, and, together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other literary works.The novel, which began life as a short story in the New Yorker in 2020, and won the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award in 2021, begins with ten-year-old Louisa and her father taking a walk out on the breakwater. They are spending the summer in a coastal Japanese town while her father Serk, a Korean émigré, completes an academic secondment from his American university. When Louisa wakes hours later, she has washed up on the beach and her father is missing, probably drowned. The disappearance of Louisa’s father shatters their small family unit. As Louisa and her American mother, Anne, return to the US, this traumatic event reverberates across time and space, and the mystery of what really happened to Serk slowly unravels. The book was shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize and has recently been longlisted for the 2026 Women's Prize. For her influences, Susan chose: Jenny Erpenbeck’s Visitation, from 2010; the Selected Stories of Alice Munro from 1996; and George Eliot’s Middlemarch, from 1871.Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

Colm Tóibín 08.03.2026 38мин

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.

John Lanchester 22.02.2026 34мин

Bestselling author John Lanchester speaks to Take Four Books about his latest novel Look What You Made Me Do. Together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other literary works. In black comedy Look What You Made Me Do, the lives of young TV writer Phoebe and 50-something metropolitan Kate become intertwined as the most talked about television show of the year seems to contain eerie similarities to the intimacies of Kate's marriage.John’s three chosen influences for this episode are Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym from 1953; Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh from 1928; and Cat’s Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut from 1963.Producer: Caitlin Sneddon Editor: Gillian Wheelan This is a BBC Audio Scotland production.

Jennifer Niven 15.02.2026 28мин

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.

Bryan Washington 08.02.2026 28мин

The American writer Bryan Washington speaks to Take Four Books about his new novel, Palaver, and, together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other literary works. Palaver focuses on the tense relationship between protagonists “the son” and “the mother”. The son is an American who has lived in Tokyo for the best part of a decade, teaching English as a foreign language. Throughout this period, he’s been estranged from his Jamaican-American mother back home in Texas, until one day she arrives uninvited on his doorstep.Bryan's three chosen influences in this episode are: Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto from 1988; Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson from 2016; and Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park from 2021.Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

Ali Smith 25.01.2026 28мин

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.