We are finally back! Apologies for the lengthy break – all is explained in this episode. We’re not back as soon as intended, because we recorded an episode a few days ago that… didn’t record. The podcasters’ nightmare! Nothing daunted, here we are.
In the first half, we look at cars in books and bicycles in books, as I have long threatened to do. Rachel gave in, and it turned into a fun discussion. In the second half, we look at two books that are very different but both a lot about politics – Jessica Mitford’s memoir/autobiography Hons and Rebels and Marghanita Laski’s novel Tory Heaven.
You can find us on iTunes, and now on Spotify too! (Have a search for us there.) You can also support the podcast on Patreon, and there are various rewards available there.
Oh, and the bookshop Rachel raves about has a website too.
Books and authors we mention in this episode are:
Little by Edward Carey
Alva and Irva by Edward Carey
Observatory Mansions by Edward Carey
Larchfield by Polly Clark
This Little Art by Kate Briggs
Vanity Fair by W.M. Thackeray
I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell
The Love-Child by Edith Olivier
To The North by Elizabeth Bowen
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins
Toad of Toad Hall by Kenneth Grahame
Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee
Ann Veronica by H.G. Wells
Mapp and Lucia series by E.F. Benson
The Amorous Bicycle by Mary Essex
Tea Is So Intoxicating by Mary Essex
A.A. Milne
Elizabeth Taylor
Miss Read
Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson
Hons and Rebels by Jessica Mitford
Tory Heaven by Marghanita Laski
Love on the Supertax by Marghanita Laski
The Village by Marghanita Laski
London War Notes by Mollie Panter-Downes
The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters ed. by Charlotte Mosley
Miss Ranskill Comes Home by Barbara Euphan Todd
The American Way of Death by Jessica Mitford
A Fine Old Conflict by Jessica Mitford
The Devastating Boys by Elizabeth Taylor
The Demon Lover by Elizabeth Bowen
Based on your list of books/authors mentioned, I’m assuming the episode is
*does calulculations*
…14 hours
Pleased to have you back! Although I’ve not read the Laski, in my current frame of mind I would plump for anything other than the Mitfords. And pleased to see you’ll be tacking Elizabeth Bowen’s The Demon Lover next time – it’s a truly wonderful and evocative collection of stories!
Glad you’re back!
I’m looking forward to listening. I’ve been missing your chatter and wondering what was up!
I love how Rachel always manages to rise to the challenge!
The only book I thought of right away was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.. :)
Really enjoyed the podcast – can I mention ‘Gate of Angels’ by Penelope Fitzgerald ,who you have recently discussed.
The two main characters in 1912 Cambridge , who do not know each other, are cycling past a farm but both get knocked over. They wake from having been knocked unconscious lying next to each other. A good read and a classic Bicycling scene.
Hope both of you have a good Christmas and many new podcasts in 2019.
Oo thanks – I do like Fitzgerald, and I have wondered why so few books seem to be set in Cambridge, compared to Oxford. And I have this one waiting on my shelf!