Tea or Books? #93 Do We Care What Characters Are Called? and Two Tove Jansson Novels

Summer, Winter, names – welcome to episode 93. In the first half, we ask: ‘Do we care what characters are called?’, looking at the strange and ordinary names that characters are given. In the second half, we compare Tove Jansson’s

Summer, Winter, names – welcome to episode 93.

In the first half, we ask: ‘Do we care what characters are called?’, looking at the strange and ordinary names that characters are given. In the second half, we compare Tove Jansson’s novel – or is it – The Summer Book and short story selection A Winter Book.

As ever, we would love to hear your questions and suggestions to [email protected]. You can listen to the podcast above, through a podcast app, on Apple Podcasts, or on Spotify. You can support the podcast on Patreon, and many thanks to those who do

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

Camilla by Frances Burney

Pamela by Samuel Richardson

Tom Jones by Henry Fielding

Tristam Shandy by Laurence Sterne

Evelina by Frances Burney

The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley

Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield

The Half Crown House by Helen Ashton

Bricks and Mortar by Helen Ashton

The Foolish Gentlewoman by Margery Sharp

P.G. Wodehouse

Cluny Brown by Margery Sharp

The Gipsy in the Parlour by Margery Sharp

The Reading Group by Elizabeth [not Barbara!] Noble

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

The Ballad and the Source by Rosamond Lehmann

Patience by John Coates

Charles Dickens

Anthony Trollope

A Name to Conjure With by G.B. Stern

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Weather by Jenny Offill

Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill

Chemistry by Weike Wang

Sarah Crossan

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner

The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Coming Home by Rosamund Pilcher

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Molly Fox’s Birthday by Deirdre Madden

A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham

The Snow Queen by Michael Cunningham

Sex Education by Janni Visman

Yellow by Janni Visman

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

Grief Is The Thing With Feathers by Max Porter

Lanny by Max Porter

Vanessa and Her Sisters by Priya Parmar

Lettice Delmer by Susan Miles

Hello Friend We Missed You by Richard Owain Roberts

Tomas Tranströmer

Fair Play by Tove Jansson

Sun City by Tove Jansson

The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson

Dusty Answer by Rosamond Lehmann

Frost in May by Anthonia White