SIM Ep 237, Pod 75: The fight, the island and the fight on an island

Small Island is a delicately wrought and profoundly moving novel that handles weighty themes such as empire, prejudice, war, and love with a lightness of touch and generosity of spirit. The story is set in London in 1948 and jumps back in time to the Second World War, capturing the rapid cultural changes in post-war London. It follows the lives of four main characters: Hortense, a black woman from Jamaica; Queenie, a white woman living in London; and their respective husbands, Gilbert and Bernard. The novel highlights the racial prejudice faced by Jamaican immigrants in England and the complex interactions between characters from different backgrounds. It won the Orange Prize for Fiction, the Whitbread Book of the Year, and the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize.

Set in a post-apocalyptic North America known as Panem, The Hunger Games follows Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old girl from District 12, who volunteers to participate in the 74th Hunger Games to save her younger sister Prim. Alongside Peeta Mellark, the other tribute from District 12, Katniss must use her hunting skills and wits to survive the arena. The Games are a tool of oppression by the Capitol to remind the districts of their defeat in a past rebellion. As Katniss and Peeta navigate the treacherous arena, they also manipulate the audience and sponsors to gain advantages, while sparking the beginnings of a rebellion against the Capitol's tyrannical rule.