The Waterstones Podcast

It was amusing at first when Naomi Klein found people would confuse her with fellow author Naomi Wolf. But when her namesake started to develop increasingly extreme views during the COVID pandemic, it required more attention, and opened up a mirror-world of conspiracy, misinformation and shifting ideologies. In a fascinating conversation with the author of No Logo we discuss why what Doppelgänger depicts is such a pressing issue for us all, and how to get back to what really matters.

The Wren, The Wren, the new novel from Booker Prize-winner Anne Enright, continues her examination of themes around motherhood, family relationships and connection. As we sat down to talk about it, we discussed how it is really a novel about its characters and an investigation into what language is trying to do, and what happens when it reaches its limits.

From her debut novel 23 years ago, Zadie Smith has held both readers and critics in rapt attention. That debut was of course White Teeth, which went on to become a multi award-winning bestseller, and whilst the novels that have followed have taken readers to different parts of the world, she has for many been an essential chronicler of life in London. Her new novel, The Fraud, is set once again in our capital city but in a surprise to some, including the author herself perhaps, it is set during the Tichborne Case of 1873, making this her first historical novel. We spoke to discover what it was about this case and those involved in it that caused her to give in to the genre she had avoided so assiduously.

Anyone who’s had the chance to meet a favourite author at an event knows that it can add something really special to the books you love; and book festivals offer the opportunity to do it again and again. In a special episode of the podcast we head to the Edinburgh International Book Festival to meet authors Josie Long, Monica Heisey, Will McPhail, Brandon Taylor and K Patrick, as well as readers too, and discover what makes it so special.

The Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize returns for its second year and our booksellers have once again identified the most exciting new writing talent out there. We spoke with all six authors about how it feels to hand over that all-important manuscript for others to pass judgement on, discover how much autobiography feeds into their work, the kind of research it takes to create fiction, and that trickiest of questions: where does the inspiration and compulsion to write come from? Find all the books here.

When Caitlin Moran was out promoting her series of books about women and feminism, she would often encounter the same question from audiences at the end of the event: What about Men? At a time when people can claim that men actually have it harder than women in some respects, what advice did she have for them? So she went away, spoke to male friends, did the research and came back with her thoughts. We sat down to talk about the strange ways men talk to each other, the dangers of the manosphere and what positive aspects of masculinity we should be celebrating.

Lorrie Moore has continued to delight readers with her short stories but it has been 14 years since her last novel, the Women’s Prize-shortlisted A Gate at the Stairs. Her new novel, I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home, contains dual narratives which deal with the themes of love, loss and memory. As one of America’s most distinctive voices it’s best not to try and summarise things for a pith intro, far better to join our conversation about literary forms, the absurdity of loss and why romantic love is a tricky thing.

Caroline O’Donoghue’s new novel for adults, The Rachel Incident, is a love story but just not the one you might be expecting from the book’s premise. Set in the post-economic crash Republic of Ireland of 2009 it sees our eponymous heroine looking for love and to be taken seriously in a world full of uncertainty. We sat down to talk about friendship, making memories and cultural touchstones.

After her attention-grabbing debut novel, The Girls, Emma Cline has been quietly getting on with the business of writing. A story collection, Daddy, is now followed by a new novel, The Guest, another stylish display of Cline’s considerable skills that follows a young woman, drifting amongst the elite of Long Island, with the threat of everything being washed away with one wrong decision. We sat down to speak about literary influences, avoiding the obvious and portraying femininity.

Stories of seafaring, shipwreck, mutiny and murder have long held a fascination, particularly for dwellers of this island nation and in his latest investigative piece of narrative non-fiction, David Grann has a tale that grips from first page to last. The Wager was a vessel shipwrecked in the 1740s, its crew presumed lost, until a group of survivors washed up on the coast of Brazil. Their story of survival would have been incredible enough except for a second group of survivors to appear in Chile with stories of mutiny, murder and even cannibalism. What follows is not so much a question of who is telling the truth, but of who gets to tell the story that will become the truth. A court martial of individuals but also the idea of Empire itself. We sat down to talk about the pursuit of truth, human survival and the power of stories to endure.