Richard And Judy Book Club Podcast - Exclusive To Whsmith

Three women are connected by one brutal crime in this week’s Book Club novel, A Slow Fire Burning. Author Paula Hawkins joins Richard and Judy to explain why she feels the key to a good thriller is less about the whodunnit and more about the whydunnit. She also reflects on the apparent overnight success of her novel The Girl on the Train, and how she’s changed as a writer over the years. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Summer Book Club collection, and use the code SUMMER22 for a 10% discount.

Apples Never Fall is the first of Richard and Judy’s recommendations in their Summer Book Club. Author Liane Moriarty, who also wrote Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, tells Richard and Judy about how even she doesn’t know how her mysteries will unfold as she’s writing them. They discuss the themes that Liane has woven through the book, including holding grudges, children living up to their parents' expectations, and the grief that sportspeople who don’t fulfil their potential might feel. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Summer Book Club collection, and use the code SUMMER22 for a 10% discount.

Former Tornado navigator John Nichol has written a new book, Tornado: In The Eye of The Storm. He joins Richard and Judy to talk about the different types of fear he felt when he was shot down and tortured during the first Gulf war, and how the treatment of military personnel who are suffering mentally has changed over the last century. Tell Me Your Lies is this week’s Book Club novel. Written by Kate Ruby, it tells the story of a mother who – determined to portray a picture perfect image of her family – sends her alcoholic daughter, Rachel, to therapy. However, Rachel and her renowned therapist develop a troubling relationship. Continuing the theme of mental health, Richard, Judy, John, and Kate all share their own thoughts about, and experiences of, therapy and psychological traumas. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Early Summer Book Club collection, and use the code APRIL10 for a 10% discount.

Author Lizzy Barber has spent time in Florence every year since she was a teenager. Knowing the city intimately, she has set her novel Out of Her Depth in and around its glamourous hills. Quiet young woman Rachel takes a summer job at the beautiful Villa Medici, and is plunged into a social group of glamorous teens used to a life of privilege. Lizzy joins Richard and Judy to talk about how the concept of an unassuming outsider finding themselves in a lavish world allows for commentary on this type of lifestyle. A thriller, Out of Her Depth mirrors the themes in The Talented Mr Ripley, and they all discuss the bravery in writing unlikeable protagonists. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Early Summer Book Club collection, and use the code APRIL10 for a 10% discount.

First time novelist Miranda Cowley Heller has written The Paper Palace, which joins 50 year old Elle as she steals away from a family holiday to have sex with her childhood crush for the first time, while her beloved husband is inside with the rest of her family. How can Elle choose between two equal but entirely different men? Miranda joins Richard and Judy to talk about how her own life inspired the story in a number of different ways – not least that she grew up in mesmerising Cape Cod where the book is set. They also discuss how Miranda wrote the entire novel not knowing herself what decision her protagonist was ultimately going to make. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Early Summer Book Club collection, and use the code APRIL10 for a 10% discount.

Long hot summers have a strange ability to make life both stand still and take on a vibrant, mystical quality. This week’s Book Club read takes place over one such summer. Catherine, a successful London barrister goes missing the day before her wedding anniversary; the clue to her disappearance lies buried thirty years in the past at a rambling old English house where  rituals take place. Joining Richard and Judy is author Harriet Evans. She talks about choosing to write an unreliable narrator, taking inspiration from Game of Thrones, and how the idea to include folklore in her novel began in a traffic jam on Chelsea’s King’s Road. Plus, how Richard and Judy themselves inspired parts of the book... Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Early Summer Book Club collection, and use the code APRIL10 for a 10% discount.  

A cruel patriarch, a weak wife, and three adult children who all have a motive to murder their parents are at the centre of this week’s Book Club novel Not A Happy Family. Returning Book Club author Shari Lapena joins Richard and Judy to discuss whether the children of a psychopath might learn to take on similar character traits, as well as how she created a location that would become a character in itself, by taking inspiration from various real places she knows well. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Early Summer Book Club collection, and use the code APRIL10 for a 10% discount.

Malibu Rising is the first novel in the Early Summer 2022 Book Club. Author Taylor Jenkins Reid has written about the glamorous Riva siblings, professional surfers and models who live an enviable life in Malibu, but are all grappling with their own fears and secrets that will spill out at their annual summer party. The novel is set in 1983, often flashing back through the family’s history over the decades. Taylor joins Richard and Judy to talk about how the nature of fame has changed recently, and why we feel entitled to know about the lives of celebrities. She also describes Malibu as she sees it today, yes as a dazzling colony of superstars, but predominantly as a place of unbelievable natural beauty. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Early Summer Book Club collection, and use the code APRIL10 for a 10% discount.

Writing twins provides infinite possibilities to explore the human psyche. This week’s Book Club author LV Matthews has created two women who might look the same, but whose lives have taken incredibly different paths as a result of a cataclysmic shared experience in childhood. Her novel, The Twins, follows straight laced nanny Margot, and promiscuous dancer Cora as they learn more about their past. Richard and Judy share their experience of raising twin boys, and LV looks back at her own childhood as she knew from five years old – before she could spell – that she wanted to be a writer. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Spring Book Club collection, and use the code SPRING10 for a 10% discount.

The Funny Thing about Norman Foreman is the delightful title of this week’s Book Club read. A young hopeful comedian, 12 year old Norman, is at the centre of the story, and author Julietta Henderson joins Richard and Judy to chat about her own love of old-style British comedy. A fan of anything slightly quirky and eccentric, she also talks about her own upbringing in the rainforests of Queensland, where she grew up without a TV, telephone, or toilet! Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Spring Book Club collection, and use the code SPRING10 for a 10% discount.

Film director, screenwriter, and novelist Tim Sullivan joins Richard and Judy to reminisce about the time they all spent together at Granada Television in the 1980s, as well as to talk through how his career as an author began by self-publishing his own books. His latest book The Patient, is the third DS Cross novel. The Push is this week’s Book Club novel. It centres around mother Blythe who, knowing bad mothers run in her family, worries her daughter is showing psychopathic tendencies because of the way she’s been parenting. Author Ashley Audrain ponders the age old question of nature versus nurture, and explains why the unusual, gripping structure of her chapters was a bit of a happy accident. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Spring Book Club collection, and use the code SPRING10 for a 10% discount.

The Killing Kind, this week’s Book Club novel, is an intense, high-class legal thriller. At the centre is Ingrid, a criminal barrister, and a man who becomes obsessed with her. He harasses her, burns down her house, ruins her relationship, and ultimately resorts to murder too. Author Jane Casey joins Richard and Judy to talk about how helpful her criminal barrister husband was when she was writing the book. They all wonder whether they feel they’d have it in them to be a defence barrister given the moral dilemmas they must face, and ask whether psychopaths are born or made. Plus, Jane explains why she wanted other people to write the script for the TV adaptation of her book. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Spring Book Club collection, and use the code SPRING10 for a 10% discount.

Is it possible we’re living in a simulation? And could humans ever re-grow limbs? These are questions Rick Edwards explores with Richard and Judy. Rick is co-host of the BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast Show and has a new science podcast coming soon called Eureka! This week’s Book Club author is Kristin Hannah; she joins the conversation to talk about her book The Four Winds, which follows a young woman in 1930s Texas as she has to make the life changing decision to stay or leave the farm she loves as drought hits. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Spring Book Club collection, and use the code SPRING10 for a 10% discount.

I Have Something To Tell you is the first novel in the Spring 2022 Book Club. High flying criminal defence lawyer Jessica Wells appears to have it all, but her career and family life are put at risk by a new client. Edward Blake has been accused of murdering his wife, and Jessica is the only one who believes he’s innocent. Author Susan Lewis joins Richard and Judy to discuss having a lawyer friend on speed dial while writing, and why she feels the editing process is so crucial in creating a gripping novel. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Spring Book Club collection, and use the code SPRING10 for a 10% discount.

Returning Book Club author Tana French has written The Searcher. Protagonist Cal is an ex-Chicago cop who’s moved to the west of Ireland to find some peace and quiet. However, he soon finds that even the most seemingly idyllic small towns have their secrets, and potential crimes that are worth looking in to... Richard, Judy, and Tana all share a love of Westerns, so they discuss the specific brand of morality that exists in them, something that Tana took inspiration from when writing the central character in The Searcher. Tana also explains how she transitioned from being an actor to a writer by thinking of her first book as scenes in a show. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Winter Book Club collection, and use the code WINTER10 for a 10% discount.

A husband goes missing and the FBI are after him. All he leaves behind is a note to his wife Hannah: ‘protect her’. She knows he’s referring to his daughter – her step-daughter – Bailey. Together, the two women must uncover the truth about the man they thought they knew. This is the plot of Laura Dave’s new novel, The Last Thing He Told Me. Laura explains to Richard and Judy that she doesn’t necessarily know what’s going to happen in her plots when she sits down to write, and they all swap notes on finding both California and London particularly magical places. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Winter Book Club collection, and use the code WINTER10 for a 10% discount.

This week’s Book Club author transports us to Paris in 1939, and later to Montana in 1983. Janet Skeslien Charles has written The Paris Library, a novel about the thriving community of book lovers at the American Library in Paris as the Nazis invade.   Janet joins Richard and Judy to discuss her own experiences of living in both Paris and Montana, and of working at the American Library in Paris. Plus, they explore how important libraries are now in the digital world.   Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Winter Book Club collection, and use the code WINTER10 for a 10% discount.

Known for her TV work, Vicky Pattison is also an author. She’s written The Secret to Happy, a book to help young women in particular quash their self-doubt. As well as exploring why they think laughter is one of the keys to happiness, Vicky and Richard compare notes on their I’m A Celebrity experiences. Richard, Judy, and Vicky are also joined by this week’s Book Club author, Marianne Cronin. Her debut novel, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot, tells the story of terminally ill 17 year old Lenni’s friendship with 83 year old Margot. Living on a hospital ward, the pair bond by painting their life stories. Marianne agrees with Vicky that humour is particularly important in difficult situations, and also shares her beliefs about the afterlife. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Winter Book Club collection, and use the code WINTER10 for a 10% discount.  

A lawyer finds herself forced to defend a man accused of rape in this week’s Book Club read, False Witness. In doing so, a huge secret about her traumatic past threatens to resurface. Author Karin Slaughter joins Richard and Judy to discuss why she enjoys writing about mistakes made years ago coming back to haunt her protagonists. Karin is one of very few authors who have decided to write about the pandemic while we’re still in it. She explains why she feels it’s brought so many social inequalities to the surface, and why she feels so strongly about shedding light on them through her writing. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Winter Book Club collection, and use the code WINTER10 for a 10% discount.

Money influencer Gemma Bird is on a mission to make it clear that saving is cool. Having built a successful Instagram page, she’s now written a book called Money Mum Official: Save Yourself Happy, and joins Richard and Judy to share some of her best money saving tips, including using apps to find deals and having a ‘no spend’ day every week. This week’s read is by returning Book Club author Lisa Jewell. She’s written The Night She Disappeared, which traces the disappearance of a young mum and her boyfriend, leaving the girl’s distraught mother to bring up their baby son. Lisa explains how hearing someone say the words ‘boarding school’ was the inspiration for the novel, and why she doesn’t plan her plots ahead of time. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Winter Book Club collection, and use the code WINTER10 for a 10% discount.