In this episode, John & Andy are joined by author and editor Sarra Manning. Sarra has written a constellation of adult and YA novels and has contributed to the Guardian, Elle, Grazia, Stylist and is currently the Literary Editor of Red magazine. Her latest adult novel, The Rise & Fall of Becky Sharp has just been published by HarperCollins. Also in this episode, John discovers a powerful new voice in Anna Burns’ novel Milkman (shortlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize) and Andy has another go at finishing the surprisingly topical Daniel Deronda by George Eliot.

Books mentioned:

Elaine Dundy – The Dud Avocado; The Old Man & Me; Life Itself; Elvis & Gladys
Sarra Manning - The Rise and Fall of Becky Sharp
Marie Condo – The Life Changing Art of Tidying
William Makepeace Thackeray - Vanity Fair
George Eliot – Daniel Deronda
Marcel Proust – In Search of Lost Time
Leo Tolstoy – Anna Karenina
Bruce Chatwin – What Am I Doing Here
Anthony Powell – A Dance to the Music of Time
Anna Burns – Milkman; No Bones
Sally Rooney - Normal People
Patricia Lpckwood – Priestdaddy
Truman Capote - Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Anita Loos – Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Jean Rhys – Good Morning, Midnight
J.D. Salinger – The Catcher in the Rye
Candace Bushnell - Sex in the City
Helen Fielding - Bridget Jones’s Diary
Colin MacInnes - Absolute Beginners
Alexander Baron - The Lowlife
Maureen Duffy - Capital