The Book Club

On this week’s Book Club, Sam Leith is joined by journalist, comedy writer and novelist David Quantick to discuss his new book, The Hyena – a fictional autobiography of Deborah Parkinson, an overlooked surrealist painter whose extraordinary life takes her from Plymouth to Paris and Mexico City.

David discusses his fascination with surrealism, the influence of artist Leonora Carrington, and the challenges faced by women trying to make their mark in the art world. They explore the fine line between fact and fiction, from encounters with Frida Kahlo to an assassination attempt on Leon Trotsky.

Plus: is humour undervalued in literature? And does surrealism still have a place in the modern world?

Produced by Abigail Brierley.
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In this week's Book Club, Sam Leith is joined by Marina Litvinenko, widow of former Russian FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko, to discuss her new book, A Life in Fragments: Our Love, His Murder, My Resistance.

In 2006, Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned with radioactive polonium in London, in an assassination executed by the Russian state. Marina recounts their life together, from meeting in post-Soviet Russia and Sasha's growing disillusionment with the FSB, to their dramatic escape from Russia and his eventual murder.

How did an officer who once served the Russian security services become one of Vladimir Putin's most outspoken critics? Why was he targeted, and what does his killing reveal about the Kremlin's reach? And, nearly 20 years on, has Britain done enough to hold Russia to account?

Marina reflects on her fight for justice, the personal cost of speaking out against Putin, and her hopes for Russia's future.

Produced by Abigail Brierley.
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Who was the real Sherlock Holmes? In this episode Sam Leith is joined by medical historian and author Lindsey Fitzharris to discuss her new book, Sleuth Hound: The Case of the Real Sherlock Holmes.

Fitzharris tells the extraordinary story of Joseph Bell, the Edinburgh surgeon whose powers of observation inspired Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary detective. How did Bell learn to read the human body like a crime scene, and what role did he play in the emergence of modern forensic science? From Victorian murder cases to the Ripper investigations, Bell’s work helped bring medical evidence into the courtroom – while his real-life achievements were often overshadowed by his fictional counterpart.

Plus: why did Conan Doyle want to kill off Sherlock Holmes, and how did Bell react to becoming the inspiration for one of literature’s most famous characters?

Produced by Abigail Brierley.
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For this week’s Book Club, Sam Leith, the Spectator’s literary editor, is joined by Shaun Bythell, proprietor of The Book Shop in Wigtown, Scotland, and author of The Diary of a Bookseller series, to discuss the fourth instalment, The Return of the Bookseller’s Diary.
They discuss the strange characters who wander into second-hand bookshops, the customers who haggle over £2 books, and how Bythell’s shop helped turn Wigtown into Scotland’s unlikely book town.
They also explore the changing world of bookselling, from the rise of online marketplaces to the 18th-century bookseller James Lackington, whose ‘buy cheap, sell cheap’ philosophy has more than a little in common with Amazon.
Plus, Bythell reveals how keeping a diary has changed the way he sees his customers, the unexpected consequences of becoming a published author, and why the Covid-19 pandemic proved surprisingly good for business.
Produced by Abigail Brierley.
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In this week’s Book Club podcast, Sam Leith is joined by author Matthew Sweet to discuss his new biography, The Great Dictator, about the bestselling novelist Barbara Cartland.

They explore the extraordinary life behind Barbara Cartland’s instantly recognisable image – from her beginnings in the aftermath of the First World War to her career as one of the bestselling authors of all time.

They discuss why Cartland was so often dismissed as a joke by literary critics, and how her novels offered generations of women stories of romance, aspiration and consolation. They delve into the political side of her life, including her opposition to appeasement, her campaigning on behalf of Romani travellers and her close relationship with her brother, MP Ronald Cartland.
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