62. Norah Lofts - The Town House

This episode's guest on the Backlisted podcast is the writer and columnist Lucy Mangan, author of a new memoir about her childhood reading, Bookworm (Penguin). She's chosen the now very under-read historical novel by Norah Lofts - The Town House and the discussion covers historical fiction (and how its marketed), the depth and quality of Lofts research and the brilliant idea of writing a trilogy that covers 600 years in one Suffolk house. Before that Andy is enchanted by Lee Stuart Evans novel Words Best Sung (Faber) and John allows the swagger of Emmanuel Carrère's The Kingdom (a histrico-philosophical memoir-cum-novel about the Gospels) carry him away (Penguin).

Books mentioned:

• Norah Lofts - The House at Old Vine; The House at Sunset; Bless This House; Ann Boleyn; Nethergate; A Wayside Tavern

• Keith Waterhouse - Billy Liar

• Emmanuel Carrere - Limonov; The Adversary: A True Story of a Monstrous Deception

• Michel Houellebecq - H.P. Lovecraft: Against theWorld, Against Life

• Joan Aiken - The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

• Russell Hoban - Riddley Walker

• Paul Kingsnorth - The Wake

• Sylvia Townsend Warner - The Corner That Held Them

• Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall
  
  Unbound project of the week:

• Women on Nature by Katharine Norbury - get free postage by using the code LOFTS at checkout

Other Links:

• White Wilderness & the myth of lemming suicides

• Lucy Mangan's Wikipedia entry

• John's review of Bookworm on Monocle Radio (starts at 15:26 in)

• James Woods' review of The Kingdom in the New Yorker.

• Suffolk magazine on Norah Lofts' life

• Goodreads: Fans of Norah Lofts group

• Alison Weir:' the most outstanding historical novel that I have ever read.'

• The Head That Launched a Thousand Books blog

• The Witches (DVD) - a Hammer horror based on the Norah Lofts thriller (written under the name Peter Curtis), The Little Wax Doll

Thanks to Bloom & Wild for sponsoring this episode. They are the UK's top rated flower delivery company  - they send fresh, seasonal flowers through the letterbox and they’re sent in bud which means they last 7 days or more. Plus they offer free next day delivery across the UK (and to Ireland, France and Germany). For 20% off your first purchase, use the code BACKLISTED at checkout (valid to early June 2018)