In this final edition of Open Book, Johny Pitts and Chris Power celebrate some of the outstanding novels from the last twenty six years.
They are joined by Kamila Shamsie, winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2018 for her novel Home Fire. Sara Collins, author of The Confessions of Frannie Langton, and one of this year's Booker Prize judges. Ted Hodgkinson, Head of Literature and Spoken Word at the Southbank Centre, and previous chair of the International Booker.
Kamila, Sara and Ted pick out some of the books, including Wolf Hall, Lincoln in the Bardo and On Beauty, which have stood out for them: books they'd recommend to others, and re-read again and again.
Producer: Kirsten Locke
Books List:
Best of Friends – Kamila Shamsie
Burnt Shadows – Kamila Shamsie
Home Fire – Kamila Shamsie
The Confessions of Frannie Langton – Sara Collins
In the City by the Sea – Kamila Shamsie
Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantel
Lincoln in the Bardo – George Saunders
Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
Klara and the Sun – Kazuo Ishiguro
Seasonal Quartet – Ali Smith
The Bee Sting – Paul Murray
Maps for Lost Lovers – Nadeem Aslam
In Memoriam – Alice Winn
On Beauty – Zadie Smith