Sentimental Garbage

Ready to pair your Yves Saint Laurent smoking jacket with your $3 batik shorts? We're joined by publisher and writer Wei Ming Kam to talk Crazy Rich Asians, the blockbuster book series that launched a thousand think pieces. We discuss the pure heaven that is Astrid Leong, foodie culture in Singapore, identifying with British colonialism when it doesn't identify with you, the Western gaze on the Asian experience and emeralds, glorious emeralds! Music by Harry Harris, artwork by Gavin Day, produced by Caroline O'Donoghue, mixed by Hannah Varrall. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

CW: Suicide. This week we're joined by author, historian and bookseller Emma Southon in the rather fitting setting of my hotel room to talk about Mhairi McFarlane's WHO'S THAT GIRL?, an extremely funny romcom about Edie, a 30-something copywriter who falls in love with Elliott, the movie star she's been sent to ghostwrite a memoir for. We talk about movie stars, Game of Thrones, terrible celebrity profiles, the role of chick-lit when trying to unpick "having it all", dating famous people and why there aren't any chick-lit books about beards. Emma Southon is the author of AGRIPPINA: Empress, Exile, Hustler, Whore and co-hosts the podcast HISTORY IS SEXY. Music by Harry Harris, artwork by Gavin Day, produced by Caroline O'Donoghue and mixed by Hannah Varrall. If you'd like to support the podcast find us on sentimentalgarbage.substack.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're live from Body & Soul Festival in Ireland talking Maeve Binchy's classic CIRCLE OF FRIENDS. This 700 page epic about a single academic school year is probably the most frequently spotted book on Irish shelves, and with good reason. We talk upwardly mobile Catholics in 1950s Ireland, the specific pains of being a Big Strapping Country lass in a Nan Mahon world, the exquisite world-building of Binchy's Ireland, and learning to embrace Irish fiction, clichés and all. Sarah Maria Griffin is the author of two novels, OTHER WORDS FOR SMOKE and SPARE & FOUND PARTS, and is the co-host of the podcast Juvenalia. This podcast was recorded at Body & Soul Festival, Westmeath. Artwork by Gavin Day, music by Harry Harris, produced by Caroline O'Donoghue and mixed by Hannah Varrall. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hold onto the precious jewel trapped in your dachshund's stomach and get ready for a whirlwind post-war fairytale that will make you hum the entire Anastasia soundtrack. We talk to YA and children's author Laura Wood about A COUNTESS BELOW STAIRS, a novel so profoundly magical that we both start crying by the end. After the Russian revolution, Countess Anna Grazinsky flees to England with her governess in an attempt to make a new life for herself and her family. She winds up working as a maid for the Westerholme family, a once great english country household that has been decimated by the First World War. We talk love stories, why eugenics has always been for losers, and Laura's forthcoming biography on the adored Ibbotson. Artwork by Gavin Day, music by Harry Harris, produced by Caroline O'Donoghue and mixed by Hannah Varrall. Recorded at ACAST studios in London Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gird your loins! This week wrestling podcaster and author of the I HEART series Lindsey Kelk is here to relive all your worst memories of being an entry level employee. We're talking about Lauren Weisberger's debut THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, a book that we will readily admit is not as good as the film. We discuss unlikable heroines, memoir vs fiction, the hideousness of first jobs, dragon ladies, the profound whiteness of the "girl in the city" narrative and the benefits of 'throwing the teddy in the crash'. Artwork by Gavin Day, music by Harry Harris, produced by Caroline O'Donoghue and mixed by Hannah Varrall. Recorded at ACAST Studios London. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you want to read about the Tudors, you want to read about the SEXY Tudors, and The Other Boleyn Girl is the sexiest of all. Returning guest and author of Midnight Chicken Ella Risbridger comes by to talk about masque balls, women in history, sexual awakenings, sisters and why historical fiction is so much better when the details of that history are left niiiiiiice and loose. Music by Harry Harris, artwork by Gavin Day. Recorded at Acast studios, produced by Caroline O'Donoghue and mixed by Hannah Varrall Order Midnight Chicken here: https://amzn.to/2XmvYNjPre-order Ella's poetry anthology here: https://amzn.to/305ZW5a Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You know Candice Bergen, even if you don't think you do: you've seen her reject Carrie Bradshaw as Enid, the editor of Vogue, and you've seen her try to blow up a Miss America pageant in Miss Congeniality. But there's more to this actor than you might think: she was born into Hollywood royalty, as the daughter of famous ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, became the "sliding doors" Sharon Tate during the summer of the Manson murders, and was the first woman to ever host SNL. In her memoir Knock Wood, she describes with wry humour her Hollywood childhood and what it's like to grow up as a sex symbol in the 1970s. We talk about the hypocrisy of the hippie movement, the weirdness of ventriloquism, the death of vaudeville, the perils of growing up Californian, and why if you can't date your father you might as well get a horse. Music by Harry Harris, artwork Gavin Day. Recorded at Acast studios, produced by Caroline O'Donoghue and mixed by Hannah Varrall.You can buy Karen's book WHY KAREN CARPENTER MATTERS here: https://amzn.to/2IO3ljq Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we're talking to Queenie author Candice Carty-Williams about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah, a book that stands out on Sentimental Garbage for neither being sentimental nor garbage. In fact, it was very well reviewed from the moment it came out. However, this book has more in common with chick lit than you might expect. We talk about when sweeping romance meets cultural understanding, what it's like to write from a place of specificity, the second generation immigration experience, code-switching, masculinity in strong female houses, and why Alexa is a racist. Music by Harry Harris, artwork by Gavin Day. Recorded at Acast and produced by Hannah Varrall. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re going back to school this week with YA author Holly Bourne for our first ever live show at London Book Fair. We’re talking about Louise Rennison’s teen classic Angus Thongs and Full-frontal Snogging. We chat about preteen desires, trying to trap boys, the private lives of girls, writing for a young audience and the lasting legacy of Rennison’s work.Music by Harry Harris, artwork by Gavin Day. Recorded at the London Book Fair 2019 and produced by Hannah Varrall. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we’re talking to YA hero and sex writing genius Sarra Manning about her 2009 adult debut Unsticky. We talk about everything from life in the magazine world, to orgasms, to the importance of happy endings in chick-lit novels. Don’t forget to listen to our main episode about the book with Jeanne SuttonMusic by Harry Harris, artwork by Gavin Day. Recorded at Acast and produced by Hannah Varrall. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.