Novelist Joanne Harris (Chocolat, A Narrow Door) is our guest for a celebration of Titus Groan (1946), Gormenghast (1950) and Titus Alone (1959) by Mervyn Peake, three novels which are often referred to, erroneously, as The Gormenghast Trilogy. With Joanne's expert guidance, John and Andy revisit Peake's visionary work for the first time in decades and are surprised and delighted by what they discover. Also in this episode, Andy marks the belated UK publication of Maud Martha, the sole novel by poet Gwendolyn Brooks (Faber); while John enjoys Geoff Dyer's new book about tennis and much more, The Last Days of Roger Federer: And Other Endings (Canongate).

Books mentioned:

Mervyn Peake - Titus Groan; Gormenghast; Titus Alone; Titus Awakes; The Gormenghast Trilogy
Joanne Harris - Chocolat; A Narrow Door
Gwendolyn Brooks - Maud Martha
Kay Dick - They
Rachel Ingalls - Mrs Caliban
Wilson Harris - Palace of the Peacock
Emeric Pressburger - The Glass Pearls
Geoff Dyer - The Last Days of Roger Federer & Other Endings
James Joyce - Ulysses
Thomas Love Peacock - Nightmare Abbey
Victor Hugo - Les Miserables; Notre-Dame de Paris
J. L. Husymans - A Rebors
John Braine- Room at the Top
Albert Canus - The Outsider
Joe Orton - Entertaining Mr Sloane
W.C. Sellar & R.J. Yeatman - 1066 & All That
Colin Wilson - The Outsider

Other links:

Hundred Years of Mervyn Peake
Desert Island Discs, Sir Ranulph Fiennes:
Desert Island Discs, Keith Floyd:
The Mervyn Peake official website:
Peake Studies
The Cure, Faith
Gormenghast (2000) on Amazon Prime:
Joanne Harris website
New Folio Society edition of the Gormenghast Trilogy (sic), illustrated by Dave McKean and with an introduction by Neil Gaiman, it costs £745 plus P&P but knock yourselves out!