You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin from News Talks.

You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin from News Talks.

Ab Joan McKenzie's with us. Good morning. Hello. You have got a book by Abigail Dene It's called The Death of Us.

Ab Joan McKenzie's with us. Good morning. Hello. You have got a book by Abigail Dene It's called The Death of Us.

Yeah, it's her third book, and it shows again how talented she is at taking traumatic events in someone's life and then trying to make sense of them. The first one she did was called Girl A, and it was modeled on a family in California that listeners may remember a few years ago, the Turpin family, where twelve kids were found being held in what became known as the House of Horrors, and Girl A was modeled on that real life story. That's right right. In this one, you've got Isabelle and Edward who are thirty years old. They're happily married when an intruder perpetrates the home invasion, which changes everything. And throughout much of this book, Isabelle speaks directly to the guy who did it, talking as though he's in the room and telling him about the ongoing impact that he's had on her life. And I think it's a rare, really clever literary device because you hear and feel everything with her in the context of him, but there are other voices as well. The story is told in three parts. There are different points of view. There's the past and the present, and you realize that this was truly a love story which was shattered by a meaningless act of violence, and the author explores the impact of that on them and on their relationship, about how so much was lost, but then as life goes on, so much is also found. They've gone on to different lives and Isabelle couldn't put it behind her, but Edward decides twenty years later to attend the trial which is finally taking place, to see justice done and to see what they can solve it from it. Overall, I would say this is a book which clearly has some dark moments, but it's actually a story about survival and love and how love can survive so much that gets thrown at.

Yeah, it's her third book, and it shows again how talented she is at taking traumatic events in someone's life and then trying to make sense of them. The first one she did was called Girl A, and it was modeled on a family in California that listeners may remember a few years ago, the Turpin family, where twelve kids were found being held in what became known as the House of Horrors, and Girl A was modeled on that real life story. That's right right. In this one, you've got Isabelle and Edward who are thirty years old. They're happily married when an intruder perpetrates the home invasion, which changes everything. And throughout much of this book, Isabelle speaks directly to the guy who did it, talking as though he's in the room and telling him about the ongoing impact that he's had on her life. And I think it's a rare, really clever literary device because you hear and feel everything with her in the context of him, but there are other voices as well. The story is told in three parts. There are different points of view. There's the past and the present, and you realize that this was truly a love story which was shattered by a meaningless act of violence, and the author explores the impact of that on them and on their relationship, about how so much was lost, but then as life goes on, so much is also found. They've gone on to different lives and Isabelle couldn't put it behind her, but Edward decides twenty years later to attend the trial which is finally taking place, to see justice done and to see what they can solve it from it. Overall, I would say this is a book which clearly has some dark moments, but it's actually a story about survival and love and how love can survive so much that gets thrown at.

It and not based on a true story. No, I don't believe so right, Okay, I love a good spy thrillery. You've got one for us today, A spy at by Charles Beaumont.

It and not based on a true story. No, I don't believe so right, Okay, I love a good spy thrillery. You've got one for us today, A spy at by Charles Beaumont.

Yes, this is great. So the Russia Ukraine War is in full swing with social media and disinformation amongst the smartest weapons being used, and there's a range of mercenaries and other vested interests all jockeying for position. And a guy called Simon Shalman is a former British spy who's gone rogue to try and track down the Chechen assassin who murdered his friend and business partner Ivy, And he thinks he's on a solo mission, but actually his friends and former colleagues at Whitehall are never many steps behind, and it turns out there's a lot more going on than his solitary pursuit of the bad guy. British Intelligence, of course, has its fingers and lots of pies, and it takes Simon quite a while too long really to figure out what where he sits in their scheme. But as it's set amongst the war in Ukraine and the kind of headlines that we've been seeing for three years now, this takes you right up close to some of the action. I've got to say, the commentary that it makes on us and European politics right at the moment could be said to be prescient great espionage. As you said, we both love a good spy story. If you love David mclos who did Damascus Station and Moscow X and so on, or I S. Berry who did The Peacock and the Sparrow, which many of us have loved. Then this book is for you.

Yes, this is great. So the Russia Ukraine War is in full swing with social media and disinformation amongst the smartest weapons being used, and there's a range of mercenaries and other vested interests all jockeying for position. And a guy called Simon Shalman is a former British spy who's gone rogue to try and track down the Chechen assassin who murdered his friend and business partner Ivy, And he thinks he's on a solo mission, but actually his friends and former colleagues at Whitehall are never many steps behind, and it turns out there's a lot more going on than his solitary pursuit of the bad guy. British Intelligence, of course, has its fingers and lots of pies, and it takes Simon quite a while too long really to figure out what where he sits in their scheme. But as it's set amongst the war in Ukraine and the kind of headlines that we've been seeing for three years now, this takes you right up close to some of the action. I've got to say, the commentary that it makes on us and European politics right at the moment could be said to be prescient great espionage. As you said, we both love a good spy story. If you love David mclos who did Damascus Station and Moscow X and so on, or I S. Berry who did The Peacock and the Sparrow, which many of us have loved. Then this book is for you.

Brilliant, Thank you so much, Joe. In those two books, The Death of Us by Abigail Dean and A Spy at War by Charles Beaumont, which took next week.

Brilliant, Thank you so much, Joe. In those two books, The Death of Us by Abigail Dean and A Spy at War by Charles Beaumont, which took next week.

See you then.

See you then.

For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen live to News Talks It'd be from nine am Sunday, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio

For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen live to News Talks It'd be from nine am Sunday, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio