The Richard and Judy Book Club, exclusive to WHSmith
326 episodes - English - Latest episode: 12 months ago - ★★★★★ - 10 ratingsThe UK’s biggest book club is back with an all new podcast hosted by television royalty; Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. Each week, Richard and Judy will be discussing a brand-new book with its author, delving into the novel’s origins, themes, inspirations and much, much more. This is the perfect podcast for any book lover, and with each title available in your nearest WHSmith store as part of their exclusive Richard and Judy Book Club collection, it’s never been easier to join Britain’s biggest book club!
Simply pop in to your local WHSmith or head to www.whsmith.co.uk to browse the entire seasonal collection. Get reading and tune in each week as Richard and Judy take a deep-dive into a different, riveting title.
So, grab a cuppa and join Richard and Judy on the sofa for this brand-new podcast, and welcome to the Richard and Judy Book Club, exclusive to WHSmith!
Oh – and join the conversation and let us know what Book Club novels you’ve been reading recently by emailing [email protected]
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Episodes
Lisa Jewell
May 11, 2023 02:00 - 23 minutes - 33.8 MBHuman bones and the seeds of a rare tree are found in a bag on the banks of the River Thames in this week’s Book Club novel, The Family Remains. DCI Samuel Owusu is called in to solve the mystery. Returning Book Club author Lisa Jewell joins Richard and Judy to explain why, despite not liking writing literary detectives, she ended up giving her DCI, Samuel, a lot of time. The three also share their takes on whether classic novels should be allowed to be drastically changed when they’re ada...
Sarah Turner
April 13, 2023 02:00 - 29 minutes - 41.4 MBBeth is a 30 year old who lives with her parents and can’t hold down a job or relationship, but she’s suddenly forced to grow up when she’s put in charge of her teenage niece and toddler nephew after a terrible accident. The question is, will she be able to step up to the plate? Author Sarah Turner joins Richard and Judy to explain the art of taking a tragic situation and finding the humour in it, both in her real life, and in her writing. Also the author of her Unmumsy Mum blog, Sarah tal...
Tim Weaver
April 06, 2023 02:00 - 24 minutes - 35.7 MBCCTV footage shows a couple driving in a car looking perfectly happy and relaxed... moments later they’ve plunged into a 90 foot ravine. When the car is found, it’s empty. Missing persons investigator David Raker must solve the mystery. Author Tim Weaver joins Richard and Judy to talk about why sometimes real life missing persons cases can be stranger than fiction, and why he wanted to write an emotionally articulate leading man. Plus, he explains why the thrilling ending of The Blackbird ...
David Baldacci
March 30, 2023 02:00 - 27 minutes - 39 MBTravis Devine, the character at the heart of this week’s Book Club novel The 6.20 Man, has survived combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, but soon finds himself wrapped up in a different kind of danger in the cut throat world of high finance. Author David Baldacci joins Richard and Judy to explain why he was ready to get out of his comfort zone as a writer by creating new characters and exploring new worlds through them. They also talk about some of the real life events that inspired parts...
Amanda Geard
March 23, 2023 02:00 - 25 minutes - 36 MBGeologist Amanda Geard has written her debut novel, The Midnight House. Immersive, with an incredibly strong sense of place, the book tells the story of Lady Charlotte Rathmore who went missing in 1940, and that of Ellie Fitzgerald who looks to unravel the mystery in 2019. Amanda joins Richard and Judy to discuss how her geology knowledge helped her write both the novel’s central grand house, and south-west Ireland, in such vivid detail. Plus, Amanda talks about how the renovation of her o...
Sarah Pinborough
March 16, 2023 02:00 - 24 minutes - 35.2 MBHow well do you sleep at night? We all go through periods when we’re not sleeping as well as we might like, but for the protagonist in this week’s Book Club novel, Insomnia, her sleep deprivation is particularly disturbing... Sarah Pinborough’s unreliable narrator Emma is petrified of meeting the same fate as her mother who had a psychotic breakdown when she turned 40. Richard, Judy, and Sarah chat about which big milestone birthdays they found difficult, and how they cope with early morn...
Victoria Selman
March 09, 2023 02:00 - 23 minutes - 33.9 MBWhat happens to the families of serial killers? How do they reflect on the memories they shared? These are the questions Victoria Selman asks in Truly Darkly Deeply. Sophie was 12 when Matty Melgren came into her life as her mother’s much-loved partner; 20 years later he’s in prison for murder and Sophie must question everything she thought she knew. Richard, Judy, and Victoria explore whether they think people are born evil, and why our fascination with true crime might speak to a need ...
Jessamine Chan
January 19, 2023 02:00 - 28 minutes - 40.6 MBAre there any circumstances under which it’s ok to leave a young child alone? What should the punishment be? In Jessamine Chan’s The School For Good Mothers, such recklessness demands you spend time being re-educated as a parent by the state. Joining Richard and Judy, Jessamine tells the real life story that inspired her semi-dystopian novel, and they wonder whether parents are subject to more judgement now than ever before. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Winter Book C...
Nora Murphy
January 12, 2023 02:00 - 22 minutes - 32.7 MBWhat is a woman to do when staying with her abusive husband is dangerous, but leaving could be worse? Leah and McKenna, both women with apparently perfect lives, have never met, but their home lives look incredibly similar in this week’s Book Club novel, The Favour. Debut author Nora Murphy joins Richard and Judy to talk about how her law degree informed the way she chose to cover intimate partner violence in her novel. They also explore how, although the book is dark and chilling, Nora ha...
Jo Browning Wroe
January 05, 2023 02:00 - 28 minutes - 40.4 MBIn October 1966, a landslide at a colliery spoil tip buried a school in Aberfan. In A Terrible Kindness, this real life event is the back drop for Jo Browning Wroe’s fictional story. 19 year old newly-qualified embalmer William is one of many who volunteer to attend the disaster, and the novel follows his life as it continues to unfold. Jo, who grew up in a crematorium in Birmingham, joins Richard and Judy to explain why undertaking is often a family business, and why the process of embalm...
Jacquie Bloese
December 29, 2022 02:00 - 23 minutes - 32.8 MBIsolation is a key theme in this week’s Book Club novel, The French House. Set on the remote island of Guernsey during WWII, we meet a deaf Guernsey native, a woman trapped in a fearful marriage, and a German lieutenant whose isolated worlds will all collide, changing their lives forever. Author Jacquie Bloese joins Richard and Judy to talk about the parts of the book that are inspired by her own life, including the fact that she used to work at the real ‘French House’ in the title. They a...
Harlan Coben
December 22, 2022 02:00 - 28 minutes - 39.7 MBThriller writer Harlan Coben joins Richard and Judy to talk about his new novel, The Match. A sequel to previous Book Club novel The Boy From The Woods, Harlan explains that the two books can be read in either order if you’d like to think of The Boy From The Woods as an origin story. Similarly, Harlan talks about how the joy of writing for him is that each reader will conjure up an entirely different world, so his characters exist in hundreds of thousands of iterations across the world. Th...
Robert Gold
December 15, 2022 02:00 - 28 minutes - 39.4 MBA terrible child murder is at the heart of the first novel in Richard and Judy’s Winter 2022 Book Club collection. Considering himself a ‘failed journalist’, author Robert Gold chose to write a protagonist who is an investigative journalist instead. In Twelve Secrets, Ben Harper’s job means he begins to uncover secrets about the murder of his brother when they were children. Joining Richard and Judy, Robert talks about his time as an intern at CNN in Washington DC during Clinton’s presiden...
Celia Walden
November 03, 2022 02:00 - 23 minutes - 32.8 MBThree women agree that something must be done about their misogynistic boss in this week’s Book Club novel, Payday, but when that man is found dead, the question is whether those women really did follow through with their pact. Author Celia Walden joins Richard and Judy to talk about how the different ages of the aggrieved women helped her reveal changing attitudes to harassment in the work place, and they all share their own reflections on the Me Too movement. Simply head online to whsm...
Claire Douglas
October 27, 2022 02:00 - 28 minutes - 39.2 MBTaking inspiration from real stories of ‘road ghosts’ who allegedly lurk on lonely lanes, this week’s Book Club novel asks how three of four girls who were in a car crash mysteriously just disappeared. The Girls Who Disappeared is written by Claire Douglas, who joins Richard and Judy to talk about how entering a writing competition changed her career. They also all share their experiences of being journalists having to cover tragic stories, and reveal why they might lie to their editors......
Emily Edwards
October 20, 2022 02:00 - 24 minutes - 33.7 MB‘Herd immunity’ is a term that’s been talked about a lot over the last few years, and it’s the divisive topic of vaccinations that author Emily Edwards chose to write about in this week’s Book Club novel, The Herd. However, it’s not COVID that Emily’s story centres around, but childhood vaccinations. Emily joins Richard and Judy to talk about why she didn’t want to present anti-vaxxers as unthinking people, instead wanting to explore the idea that generally those who are pro-vaccination, a...
Freya North
October 13, 2022 01:00 - 31 minutes - 43.6 MBThe mesmerising landscape of the Isle of Harris is the setting for this week’s Book Club novel, Little Wing. Author Freya North has written the powerful story of two families over three generations, in it exploring what it really means to belong. Freya tells Richard and Judy why ‘what if?’ is one of the most powerful questions an author can ask. What if, Freya asked herself, her central character – quirky 16 year old Florence – found herself pregnant? And what if she was banished to a fa...
Lisa Gardner
October 06, 2022 02:00 - 28 minutes - 40.1 MBAfter a young man goes missing on a stag do in the Wyoming wilderness, an unlikely group of volunteers get together five years later to try to find him. The group – including the missing man’s father, and a Big Foot hunter – must hike deep into the woods in search of answers. Richard and Judy are joined by author Lisa Gardner, whose research for the book included a wilderness survival course. She shares what she learnt, including how to make a fire, whether to prioritise food or shelter, a...
Linwood Barclay
September 29, 2022 02:00 - 29 minutes - 41 MBWhen a woman is murdered, the husband is always suspect number one. That’s certainly the case in this week’s Book Club novel, Take Your Breath Away. Brie – thought to have been killed six years ago – suddenly turns up screaming outside her old house, and her husband Andy’s future depends on discovering what’s going on. Author Linwood Barclay, a returning Book Club author, joins Richard and Judy to share experiences of working to tight deadlines as newspaper columnists, and why as a result ...
Lexie Elliott
August 25, 2022 02:00 - 21 minutes - 30.2 MBThere’s sun, sea, and a mysterious serpent in this week’s Book Club novel, How To Kill Your Best Friend. A friendship group are on holiday when a star swimmer drowns off the coast of a remote island. Author Lexie Elliot tells Richard and Judy how she was inspired by her own time in South East Asia, as well as her background as a wild swimmer. They also discuss the myths of creatures like the Loch Ness Monster lurking under water, and how shared passions or hobbies can keep friendship groups ...
Behind The Scenes at the Book Club
August 18, 2022 02:00 - 28 minutes - 38.9 MBRichard and Judy are joined in this episode by Ashley Bruce, Senior Buyer for Adult Books at WHSmith, to take a peek behind the curtains at the Richard and Judy Book Club and discuss this week’s Book Club pick ‘Lily’ by Rose Tremain. Lily, a historical fiction novel, is this week’s Book Club pick. Set in Victorian England, this is a story of murder and revenge. A baby is abandoned at the gates of a park only to be saved by a young policeman and taken to the Foundling Hospital. After suffer...
Lucy Clarke
August 11, 2022 02:00 - 24 minutes - 33.8 MBA former party girl is getting married, and brings together all the women in her life for a hen do on a sun-soaked Greek island in this week’s Book Club novel One Of The Girls. All dying for a holiday, the six women are ready to throw themselves into four days of drinking and wild freedom, but by the final night there’s a body on the rocks below their beautiful terrace, and one of the girls knows what happened. Returning Book Club author Lucy Clarke joins Richard and Judy to explore the ch...
Ken Follett
August 04, 2022 02:00 - 26 minutes - 41.5 MBWWI, author Ken Follett believes, was caused by a number of small incidents that were not properly dealt with at the time. It’s a similar gradual escalation that poses a threat to global stability in his new novel Never. Ken explains to Richard and Judy why he’s careful not to be politically biased in his novels, and why his characters must have a rich personal life as well as playing a strategic or military role in order for readers to empathise and feel invested in the story. Simply he...
Paula Hawkins
July 28, 2022 02:00 - 24 minutes - 37.9 MBThree women are connected by one brutal crime in this week’s Book Club novel, A Slow Fire Burning. Author Paula Hawkins joins Richard and Judy to explain why she feels the key to a good thriller is less about the whodunnit and more about the whydunnit. She also reflects on the apparent overnight success of her novel The Girl on the Train, and how she’s changed as a writer over the years. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Summer Book Club collection, and use the code SUMMER2...
Liane Moriarty
July 21, 2022 02:00 - 21 minutes - 34 MBApples Never Fall is the first of Richard and Judy’s recommendations in their Summer Book Club. Author Liane Moriarty, who also wrote Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, tells Richard and Judy about how even she doesn’t know how her mysteries will unfold as she’s writing them. They discuss the themes that Liane has woven through the book, including holding grudges, children living up to their parents' expectations, and the grief that sportspeople who don’t fulfil their potential mi...
John Nichol and Kate Ruby
June 16, 2022 02:00 - 36 minutes - 54.2 MBFormer Tornado navigator John Nichol has written a new book, Tornado: In The Eye of The Storm. He joins Richard and Judy to talk about the different types of fear he felt when he was shot down and tortured during the first Gulf war, and how the treatment of military personnel who are suffering mentally has changed over the last century. Tell Me Your Lies is this week’s Book Club novel. Written by Kate Ruby, it tells the story of a mother who – determined to portray a picture perfect image ...
Lizzy Barber
June 09, 2022 02:00 - 24 minutes - 38.2 MBAuthor Lizzy Barber has spent time in Florence every year since she was a teenager. Knowing the city intimately, she has set her novel Out of Her Depth in and around its glamourous hills. Quiet young woman Rachel takes a summer job at the beautiful Villa Medici, and is plunged into a social group of glamorous teens used to a life of privilege. Lizzy joins Richard and Judy to talk about how the concept of an unassuming outsider finding themselves in a lavish world allows for commentary on t...
Miranda Cowley Heller
June 02, 2022 02:00 - 25 minutes - 39.9 MBFirst time novelist Miranda Cowley Heller has written The Paper Palace, which joins 50 year old Elle as she steals away from a family holiday to have sex with her childhood crush for the first time, while her beloved husband is inside with the rest of her family. How can Elle choose between two equal but entirely different men? Miranda joins Richard and Judy to talk about how her own life inspired the story in a number of different ways – not least that she grew up in mesmerising Cape Cod ...
Harriet Evans
May 26, 2022 02:00 - 27 minutes - 41.8 MBLong hot summers have a strange ability to make life both stand still and take on a vibrant, mystical quality. This week’s Book Club read takes place over one such summer. Catherine, a successful London barrister goes missing the day before her wedding anniversary; the clue to her disappearance lies buried thirty years in the past at a rambling old English house where rituals take place. Joining Richard and Judy is author Harriet Evans. She talks about choosing to write an unreliable narr...
Shari Lapena
May 19, 2022 02:00 - 27 minutes - 42.8 MBA cruel patriarch, a weak wife, and three adult children who all have a motive to murder their parents are at the centre of this week’s Book Club novel Not A Happy Family. Returning Book Club author Shari Lapena joins Richard and Judy to discuss whether the children of a psychopath might learn to take on similar character traits, as well as how she created a location that would become a character in itself, by taking inspiration from various real places she knows well. Simply head online...
Taylor Jenkins Reid
May 12, 2022 02:00 - 28 minutes - 42.8 MBMalibu Rising is the first novel in the Early Summer 2022 Book Club. Author Taylor Jenkins Reid has written about the glamorous Riva siblings, professional surfers and models who live an enviable life in Malibu, but are all grappling with their own fears and secrets that will spill out at their annual summer party. The novel is set in 1983, often flashing back through the family’s history over the decades. Taylor joins Richard and Judy to talk about how the nature of fame has changed recen...
LV Matthews
March 31, 2022 02:00 - 26 minutes - 40.4 MBWriting twins provides infinite possibilities to explore the human psyche. This week’s Book Club author LV Matthews has created two women who might look the same, but whose lives have taken incredibly different paths as a result of a cataclysmic shared experience in childhood. Her novel, The Twins, follows straight laced nanny Margot, and promiscuous dancer Cora as they learn more about their past. Richard and Judy share their experience of raising twin boys, and LV looks back at her own c...
Julietta Henderson
March 24, 2022 02:00 - 33 minutes - 50.6 MBThe Funny Thing about Norman Foreman is the delightful title of this week’s Book Club read. A young hopeful comedian, 12 year old Norman, is at the centre of the story, and author Julietta Henderson joins Richard and Judy to chat about her own love of old-style British comedy. A fan of anything slightly quirky and eccentric, she also talks about her own upbringing in the rainforests of Queensland, where she grew up without a TV, telephone, or toilet! Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to ...
Tim Sullivan and Ashley Audrain
March 17, 2022 01:00 - 30 minutes - 46.1 MBFilm director, screenwriter, and novelist Tim Sullivan joins Richard and Judy to reminisce about the time they all spent together at Granada Television in the 1980s, as well as to talk through how his career as an author began by self-publishing his own books. His latest book The Patient, is the third DS Cross novel. The Push is this week’s Book Club novel. It centres around mother Blythe who, knowing bad mothers run in her family, worries her daughter is showing psychopathic tendencies be...
Jane Casey
March 10, 2022 01:00 - 24 minutes - 37.7 MBThe Killing Kind, this week’s Book Club novel, is an intense, high-class legal thriller. At the centre is Ingrid, a criminal barrister, and a man who becomes obsessed with her. He harasses her, burns down her house, ruins her relationship, and ultimately resorts to murder too. Author Jane Casey joins Richard and Judy to talk about how helpful her criminal barrister husband was when she was writing the book. They all wonder whether they feel they’d have it in them to be a defence barrister gi...
Rick Edwards and Kristin Hannah
March 03, 2022 01:00 - 39 minutes - 57.8 MBIs it possible we’re living in a simulation? And could humans ever re-grow limbs? These are questions Rick Edwards explores with Richard and Judy. Rick is co-host of the BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast Show and has a new science podcast coming soon called Eureka! This week’s Book Club author is Kristin Hannah; she joins the conversation to talk about her book The Four Winds, which follows a young woman in 1930s Texas as she has to make the life changing decision to stay or leave the farm she lo...
Susan Lewis
February 24, 2022 06:00 - 22 minutes - 35 MBI Have Something To Tell you is the first novel in the Spring 2022 Book Club. High flying criminal defence lawyer Jessica Wells appears to have it all, but her career and family life are put at risk by a new client. Edward Blake has been accused of murdering his wife, and Jessica is the only one who believes he’s innocent. Author Susan Lewis joins Richard and Judy to discuss having a lawyer friend on speed dial while writing, and why she feels the editing process is so crucial in creating ...
Tana French
January 27, 2022 06:00 - 26 minutes - 39.5 MBReturning Book Club author Tana French has written The Searcher. Protagonist Cal is an ex-Chicago cop who’s moved to the west of Ireland to find some peace and quiet. However, he soon finds that even the most seemingly idyllic small towns have their secrets, and potential crimes that are worth looking in to... Richard, Judy, and Tana all share a love of Westerns, so they discuss the specific brand of morality that exists in them, something that Tana took inspiration from when writing the c...
Laura Dave
January 20, 2022 06:00 - 23 minutes - 35.6 MBA husband goes missing and the FBI are after him. All he leaves behind is a note to his wife Hannah: ‘protect her’. She knows he’s referring to his daughter – her step-daughter – Bailey. Together, the two women must uncover the truth about the man they thought they knew. This is the plot of Laura Dave’s new novel, The Last Thing He Told Me. Laura explains to Richard and Judy that she doesn’t necessarily know what’s going to happen in her plots when she sits down to write, and they all swap...
Janet Skeslien Charles
January 13, 2022 06:00 - 31 minutes - 47.2 MBThis week’s Book Club author transports us to Paris in 1939, and later to Montana in 1983. Janet Skeslien Charles has written The Paris Library, a novel about the thriving community of book lovers at the American Library in Paris as the Nazis invade. Janet joins Richard and Judy to discuss her own experiences of living in both Paris and Montana, and of working at the American Library in Paris. Plus, they explore how important libraries are now in the digital world. Simply head on...
Vicky Pattison and Marianne Cronin
January 06, 2022 06:00 - 33 minutes - 49.1 MBKnown for her TV work, Vicky Pattison is also an author. She’s written The Secret to Happy, a book to help young women in particular quash their self-doubt. As well as exploring why they think laughter is one of the keys to happiness, Vicky and Richard compare notes on their I’m A Celebrity experiences. Richard, Judy, and Vicky are also joined by this week’s Book Club author, Marianne Cronin. Her debut novel, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot, tells the story of terminally ill 17 y...
Karin Slaughter
December 16, 2021 17:00 - 34 minutes - 50.6 MBA lawyer finds herself forced to defend a man accused of rape in this week’s Book Club read, False Witness. In doing so, a huge secret about her traumatic past threatens to resurface. Author Karin Slaughter joins Richard and Judy to discuss why she enjoys writing about mistakes made years ago coming back to haunt her protagonists. Karin is one of very few authors who have decided to write about the pandemic while we’re still in it. She explains why she feels it’s brought so many social ine...
Gemma Bird and Lisa Jewell
December 09, 2021 06:00 - 40 minutes - 58.8 MBMoney influencer Gemma Bird is on a mission to make it clear that saving is cool. Having built a successful Instagram page, she’s now written a book called Money Mum Official: Save Yourself Happy, and joins Richard and Judy to share some of her best money saving tips, including using apps to find deals and having a ‘no spend’ day every week. This week’s read is by returning Book Club author Lisa Jewell. She’s written The Night She Disappeared, which traces the disappearance of a young mum ...
Catriona Ward
November 04, 2021 05:00 - 25 minutes - 38.5 MBThe Last House on Needless Street is the final book in Richard and Judy’s Autumn Book Club collection. It’s the story of a murderer, a stolen child, and revenge. An unspeakable truth binds the family that live in the last house on Needless Street, but a new neighbour is intent on uncovering the truth. Award-winning author Catriona Ward joins Richard and Judy to discuss why she feels the horror genre historically has a problematic relationship with mental health, and why you actually have t...
Jane Harper and Rosie Day
October 28, 2021 05:00 - 36 minutes - 53.6 MBReckless mistakes can lead to devastating consequences. Kieren Elliot is haunted by guilt from his past when he returns to the Tasmanian coastal town he used to call home in Jane Harper’s novel The Survivors. Jane tells Richard and Judy about going diving and talking to mental health charities as part of the research for this book. Mental health is also an important topic for actress and author Rosie Day. She’s written Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon, a call to arms that explores eve...
Simon Scarrow
October 21, 2021 05:00 - 38 minutes - 55.3 MBIt’s December 1939 in Berlin; a rigidly enforced blackout plunges the city into darkness every night and allows crime to thrive. Author Simon Scarrow’s novel Blackout follows Criminal Inspector Horst Schenke as he’s under pressure to solve a murder. Simon joins Richard and Judy to explain why blackouts were imposed, how hedonistic Weimar culture was a casualty of the new Nazi regime, and why he chose to write Schenke as a man who was not a Nazi sympathiser. Plus, Simon explains why he feel...
Paul O'Grady and C.J. Tudor
October 14, 2021 05:00 - 34 minutes - 50.2 MBPaul O’Grady has written his first children’s book – Eddie Albert and the Amazing Animal Gang. Paul has taught his own pigs to sit, and used to answer the door with a bird on his head; he tells Richard and Judy about his love of animals, and how his own experiences inspired the animal characters in his book. This week’s Book Club read is The Burning Girls. Author C.J. Tudor joins us to explore more macabre themes, from religious rituals and grisly local traditions, to superstitions and bel...
Bernice L. McFadden
October 07, 2021 05:00 - 27 minutes - 40.8 MBSugar, this week’s Book Club read, was first published in the US two decades ago. Now available in the UK, its core themes of race relations, oppression, and abandonment are still just as relevant and vital today. Richard, Judy, and author Bernice L. McFadden explore prejudices towards sex workers, finding friendship in unlikely places, and how racism manifests in slightly different ways in different parts of the USA. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Autumn Book Club col...
Rachel Hore
September 30, 2021 05:00 - 30 minutes - 44.1 MBA Beautiful Spy is the first of Richard and Judy’s Autumn Book Club reads. Minnie Gray appears to be an ordinary woman, but she’s actually a spy for the British government. It’s the summer of 1928 and she must move away from her family to infiltrate the communist movement. Author Rachel Hore joins Richard and Judy to discuss the real woman Minnie is based on, the qualities she possessed that made her such a fantastic spy, and the loneliness that can come from leading a double life. Si...
Sid Owen and Kiran Millwood Hargrave
August 19, 2021 05:00 - 30 minutes - 43.8 MBEastenders icon Sid Owen has been playing character Ricky on and off since 1988. He joins Richard and Judy to talk about writing his autobiography, From Rags to Ricky, and explains how acting helped him cope with a difficult childhood. Richard and Judy are also joined by this week’s Book Club author Kiran Millwood Hargrave to discuss her novel The Mercies. A violent storm erupts over a remote Norwegian island in the 17th century, drowning every man on the island as their fishing boats are ...