Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgaard discusses A Death in the Family, which is the first part of My Struggle, his series of memoirs which have a devoted following.Already a successful novelist in his native Norway, almost ten years ago Knausgaard embarked on a huge project: a first person narrative about his life. In A Death in the Family he writes with painful honesty about his childhood and teenage years, his infatuation with rock music, his relationship with his loving yet almost invisible mother and his distant and dangerously unpredictable father, and then his bewilderment and grief on his father's death. Becoming a father himself, he has to balance the demands of caring for a young family with his determination to write great literature. The series is an exploration of the author’s past from which emerges a universal story of the struggles, great and small, that we all face in our lives. Karl Ove Knausgaard writes with honesty about his upbringing, causing ructions in his family. He says he always knew that whatever he wrote, he would have to be able to look his family members in the eye. My Struggle finally ran to six volumes, and the last one The End, has just been published in the UK. The series became a literary sensation in his native Norway as well as around the world. Presented by James Naughtie and recorded with a group of invited readers.Presenter : James Naughtie Interviewed guest : Karl Ove Knausgaard Producer : Dymphna FlynnNovember's Bookclub choice : The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley (2014)

A treat from the Bookclub archive celebrating our 20th anniversary

James Naughtie and Madeline Miller discuss her debut novel The Song of Achilles which won the Orange Prize for Fiction 2012. In The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller presents a love story against the backdrop of the Trojan war - between Achilles, leading the Greek army, and his best friend Patroclus. Her imagined relationship between the two men explains the emotional support that Achilles gets from Patroclus, the strength of the bond between them and the depth of Achilles' grief at his friend's death.Recorded with a group of invited readers.October's Bookclub Choice : A Death in the Family by Karl Ove Knausgaard (2014)Presenter : James Naughtie Interviewed Guest : Madeline Miller Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

A treat from the Bookclub archive celebrating our 20th anniversary

Neel Mukherjee talks about his Man Booker Prize nominated book The Lives of Others, which explores the way an Indian family's history is disrupted when one member becomes involved in extremist political activism.The programme was recorded in the library at Styal Prison, Cheshire, with a reading group of women prisoners, and with the support of the National Literacy Trust and the Books Unlocked reading scheme.The Lives of Others is set in Calcutta and the ricefields on the edge of the jungle in the west of West Bengal. It takes place in the second half of the 1960s and centres on the large and relatively wealthy Ghosh family, led by a patriarch and matriarch who rule the family, from the top of a large shared house, with other relatives on lower floors depending on their social standing.The eldest grandson, Supratik, has left home and joined the Naxalite communist rebels and is working secretly in the countryside to mobilise the peasants against the landlords. Letters from him to an unnamed correspondent form one thread of narrative. The other is an intricate account of events and relationships on the various floors of the Ghosh house. There are tragedies and comedies, deaths and births, disasters and feasts and a mystery involving jewellery.The cast is huge and the reader spends time, at one point or another, with most of them. The reading group at Styal prison talk about the large cast of characters and how they drive the story, and also describe the importance of the prison library and reading in their daily lives.Presenter : James Naughtie Interviewed Guest : Neel Mukherjee Producer : Dymphna FlynnSeptember's Bookclub choice : The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (2011).

A treat from the Bookclub archive celebrating our 20th anniversary.

Colm Tóibín discusses his best-selling novel Brooklyn with James Naughtie and a group of invited readers. Brooklyn follows the fortunes of a young Irish woman Eilis Lacey as she leaves home to make a new life in 1950s New York. Arriving in a crowded lodging house in Brooklyn, Eilis can only be reminded of what she has sacrificed and left behind. Just as her homesickness abates and she takes tentative steps towards friendship, and perhaps something more, Eilis receives news which sends her back to Ireland where she will be confronted by a terrible dilemma. In Bookclub Colm Tóibín talks about the ongoing emigration from Ireland, especially at times of economic downturn and how Irish emigrants view home; and he notes how the tides have turned with the country receiving new immigrants from the eastern countries of the European Union in recent years.Brooklyn was nominated for the Man Booker Prize and won the Costa Novel Prize in 2009. This edition continues a summer of editions celebrating Bookclub's 20th anniversary. Presenter : James Naughtie Interviewed guest : Colm Tóibín Producer : Dymphna FlynnAugust's Bookclub choice : The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee (2014).

A treat from the Bookclub archive celebrating our 20th anniversary

Margaret Atwood discusses her dystopian masterpiece The Handmaid's Tale with James Naughtie and a group of readers. This edition celebrates Bookclub's 20th anniversary and includes contributions from former alumni of Bookclub such as Ali Smith, Eimear McBride and Evie Wyld; as well as the reading group made up of Radio 4 listeners. Thirty three years ago, Margaret Atwood published The Handmaid's Tale, a novel about a futuristic America, which following a major ecological disaster, is ruled by a brutal, misogynistic Christian theocracy called Gilead. In 2017 The Handmaid's Tale became a television series, going on to win eight Emmies. It followed the book closely, telling the tale of a society in which women are subjugated and not allowed to work or read, and valued only for their fecundity. The book has now found a new readership amongst a younger generation.The Handmaids - most prominently a woman called Offred, the narrator of the novel, are the few fertile women, who are assigned to the homes of married male rulers, and compelled to endure rape at their hands in the name of procreation.Margaret Atwood, who is one of the most celebrated novelists writing in English today, meets an invited audience of Radio 4 listeners, including sixth-formers and university students, to discuss the Handmaid's Tale.Presenter : James Naughtie Interviewed guest : Margaret Atwood Producer : Dymphna FlynnJuly's Bookclub Choice : Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín (2009).

William Trevor, a celebrated Irish short story writer, shares insights into his poignant collection 'After Rain.' He explores deep themes of love, loss, and redemption, reflecting on his Irish Protestant upbringing. The discussion touches on the complex dynamics of family relationships, revealing how circumstances can shape interactions. Trevor also emphasizes the importance of truth and craft in storytelling, likening the writing process to sculpting, where every detail is refined. Listeners are encouraged to delve into his evocative narratives.