In 1982, Isabel Allende’s novel, The House of the Spirits, shot her to fame and acclaim as one of the world’s finest exponents of magic realism. She talks to Graham about that – her first novel - and her latest, Violeta, out in January – 40 years on. 

Our clubbers discuss whether the book lifted their spirits, and I May Destroy You star, Weruche Opia, reveals why she loves voicing audio books so much. Plus, Sara Collins has some advice on the best books to fill a stocking. 

We’d like to thank Audible Limited for the use of the extract from Descendants of the First by Reni K Amayo.

When Three Women came out in 2019, it became a publishing sensation with its ground-breaking storytelling style and its frank exploration of female desire and the gender power-balance. Graham talks to its author, Lisa Taddeo, about how the book came about and finds out if it hit the spot for our clubbers. Alex Clark matches ‘three women’ with three men – fascinating male characters from fiction – and actress (and national treasure), Penelope Keith, reveals how she brings detective, Agatha Raisin, to life.

Our book of the week is Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi’s brilliant debut novel that follows the descendants of two sisters from 18th century Ghana to millennial California. Yaa tells Graham about creating such an extraordinary journey and our clubbers discuss how they felt about undertaking it. Sara Collins highlights three other books that powerfully take on the topic of slavery and Booker Prize winner, Bernardine Evaristo, talks about speaking her truth in Manifesto.