Richard And Judy Book Club Podcast - Exclusive To Whsmith

Travis Devine, the character at the heart of this week’s Book Club novel The 6.20 Man, has survived combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, but soon finds himself wrapped up in a different kind of danger in the cut throat world of high finance. Author David Baldacci joins Richard and Judy to explain why he was ready to get out of his comfort zone as a writer by creating new characters and exploring new worlds through them. They also talk about some of the real life events that inspired parts of the storyline – namely the Pandora and Panama Papers – and how real world politics is being impacted by vast sums of money. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Spring Book Club collection, and use the code SPRING23 for a 10% discount.  

Geologist Amanda Geard has written her debut novel, The Midnight House. Immersive, with an incredibly strong sense of place, the book tells the story of Lady Charlotte Rathmore who went missing in 1940, and that of Ellie Fitzgerald who looks to unravel the mystery in 2019. Amanda joins Richard and Judy to discuss how her geology knowledge helped her write both the novel’s central grand house, and south-west Ireland, in such vivid detail. Plus, Amanda talks about how the renovation of her own home in County Kerry unearthed some moving local history. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Spring Book Club collection, and use the code SPRING23 for a 10% discount.

How well do you sleep at night? We all go through periods when we’re not sleeping as well as we might like, but for the protagonist in this week’s Book Club novel, Insomnia, her sleep deprivation is particularly disturbing... Sarah Pinborough’s unreliable narrator Emma is petrified of meeting the same fate as her mother who had a psychotic breakdown when she turned 40. Richard, Judy, and Sarah chat about which big milestone birthdays they found difficult, and how they cope with early morning and lack of sleep. Plus, with a history as a horror writer, Sarah explains why she likes to add an paranormal element to her thrillers. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Spring Book Club collection, and use the code SPRING23 for a 10% discount.

What happens to the families of serial killers? How do they reflect on the memories they shared? These are the questions Victoria Selman asks in Truly Darkly Deeply. Sophie was 12 when Matty Melgren came into her life as her mother’s much-loved partner; 20 years later he’s in prison for murder and Sophie must question everything she thought she knew. Richard, Judy, and Victoria explore whether they think people are born evil, and why our fascination with true crime might speak to a need to understand the things that scare us so we’re better prepared to face them. Plus Victoria explains why she’s keen not to celebrate killers in her work, instead focusing on the victims. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Spring Book Club collection, and use the code SPRING23 for a 10% discount.  

Are there any circumstances under which it’s ok to leave a young child alone? What should the punishment be? In Jessamine Chan’s The School For Good Mothers, such recklessness demands you spend time being re-educated as a parent by the state. Joining Richard and Judy, Jessamine tells the real life story that inspired her semi-dystopian novel, and they wonder whether parents are subject to more judgement now than ever before. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Winter Book Club collection, and use the code WINTER22 for a 10% discount.

What is a woman to do when staying with her abusive husband is dangerous, but leaving could be worse? Leah and McKenna, both women with apparently perfect lives, have never met, but their home lives look incredibly similar in this week’s Book Club novel, The Favour. Debut author Nora Murphy joins Richard and Judy to talk about how her law degree informed the way she chose to cover intimate partner violence in her novel. They also explore how, although the book is dark and chilling, Nora has written with a compelling sense of cheer and adventure. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Winter Book Club collection, and use the code WINTER22 for a 10% discount.

In October 1966, a landslide at a colliery spoil tip buried a school in Aberfan. In A Terrible Kindness, this real life event is the back drop for Jo Browning Wroe’s fictional story. 19 year old newly-qualified embalmer William is one of many who volunteer to attend the disaster, and the novel follows his life as it continues to unfold. Jo, who grew up in a crematorium in Birmingham, joins Richard and Judy to explain why undertaking is often a family business, and why the process of embalming is so important at disasters in particular. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Winter Book Club collection, and use the code WINTER22 for a 10% discount.

Isolation is a key theme in this week’s Book Club novel, The French House. Set on the remote island of Guernsey during WWII, we meet a deaf Guernsey native, a woman trapped in a fearful marriage, and a German lieutenant whose isolated worlds will all collide, changing their lives forever. Author Jacquie Bloese joins Richard and Judy to talk about the parts of the book that are inspired by her own life, including the fact that she used to work at the real ‘French House’ in the title. They also discuss the ways in which the Nazi occupation of Guernsey was a microcosm of what could have happened had the mainland been occupied. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Winter Book Club collection, and use the code WINTER22 for a 10% discount.

Thriller writer Harlan Coben joins Richard and Judy to talk about his new novel, The Match. A sequel to previous Book Club novel The Boy From The Woods, Harlan explains that the two books can be read in either order if you’d like to think of The Boy From The Woods as an origin story. Similarly, Harlan talks about how the joy of writing for him is that each reader will conjure up an entirely different world, so his characters exist in hundreds of thousands of iterations across the world. The Match is set in the New Jersey mountains, so Richard and Judy explore this wilderness through Harlan’s descriptions. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Winter Book Club collection, and use the code WINTER22 for a 10% discount.

A terrible child murder is at the heart of the first novel in Richard and Judy’s Winter 2022 Book Club collection. Considering himself a ‘failed journalist’, author Robert Gold chose to write a protagonist who is an investigative journalist instead. In Twelve Secrets, Ben Harper’s job means he begins to uncover secrets about the murder of his brother when they were children. Joining Richard and Judy, Robert talks about his time as an intern at CNN in Washington DC during Clinton’s presidency, as well as the process of writing with James Patterson. They also trade stories about desperately hoping people would turn up to their book signings. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Winter Book Club collection, and use the code WINTER22 for a 10% discount.

Three women agree that something must be done about their misogynistic boss in this week’s Book Club novel, Payday, but when that man is found dead, the question is whether those women really did follow through with their pact. Author Celia Walden joins Richard and Judy to talk about how the different ages of the aggrieved women helped her reveal changing attitudes to harassment in the work place, and they all share their own reflections on the Me Too movement. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Autumn Book Club collection, and use the code AUTUMN22 for a 10% discount.  

Taking inspiration from real stories of ‘road ghosts’ who allegedly lurk on lonely lanes, this week’s Book Club novel asks how three of four girls who were in a car crash mysteriously just disappeared. The Girls Who Disappeared is written by Claire Douglas, who joins Richard and Judy to talk about how entering a writing competition changed her career. They also all share their experiences of being journalists having to cover tragic stories, and reveal why they might lie to their editors... Plus, as we approach Halloween, Richard tells his own spooky story about the time he saw a ghost in Paris. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Autumn Book Club collection, and use the code AUTUMN22 for a 10% discount.

‘Herd immunity’ is a term that’s been talked about a lot over the last few years, and it’s the divisive topic of vaccinations that author Emily Edwards chose to write about in this week’s Book Club novel, The Herd. However, it’s not COVID that Emily’s story centres around, but childhood vaccinations. Emily joins Richard and Judy to talk about why she didn’t want to present anti-vaxxers as unthinking people, instead wanting to explore the idea that generally those who are pro-vaccination, and those who are anti-vaccination, are motivated by the same thing: fear. She also discusses whether all her research for the book has changed her opinion on vaccinating her own children. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Autumn Book Club collection, and use the code AUTUMN22 for a 10% discount.  

The mesmerising landscape of the Isle of Harris is the setting for this week’s Book Club novel, Little Wing. Author Freya North has written the powerful story of two families over three generations, in it exploring what it really means to belong.   Freya tells Richard and Judy why ‘what if?’ is one of the most powerful questions an author can ask. What if, Freya asked herself, her central character – quirky 16 year old Florence – found herself pregnant? And what if she was banished to a far flung island? Freya has written 15 books, but she tells Richard and Judy that this character in Little Wing might just be her favourite. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Autumn Book Club collection, and use the code AUTUMN22 for a 10% discount.

After a young man goes missing on a stag do in the Wyoming wilderness, an unlikely group of volunteers get together five years later to try to find him. The group – including the missing man’s father, and a Big Foot hunter – must hike deep into the woods in search of answers. Richard and Judy are joined by author Lisa Gardner, whose research for the book included a wilderness survival course. She shares what she learnt, including how to make a fire, whether to prioritise food or shelter, and how to use the flora as medicine. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Autumn Book Club collection, and use the code AUTUM2022 for a 10% discount.

When a woman is murdered, the husband is always suspect number one. That’s certainly the case in this week’s Book Club novel, Take Your Breath Away. Brie – thought to have been killed six years ago – suddenly turns up screaming outside her old house, and her husband Andy’s future depends on discovering what’s going on. Author Linwood Barclay, a returning Book Club author, joins Richard and Judy to share experiences of working to tight deadlines as newspaper columnists, and why as a result he doesn’t believe in the concept of writer’s block, and doesn’t over write when it comes to descriptions. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Autumn Book Club collection, and use the code AUTUM2022 for a 10% discount.  

There’s sun, sea, and a mysterious serpent in this week’s Book Club novel, How To Kill Your Best Friend. A friendship group are on holiday when a star swimmer drowns off the coast of a remote island. Author Lexie Elliot tells Richard and Judy how she was inspired by her own time in South East Asia, as well as her background as a wild swimmer. They also discuss the myths of creatures like the Loch Ness Monster lurking under water, and how shared passions or hobbies can keep friendship groups together over many decades. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Summer Book Club collection, and use the code SUMMER22 for a 10% discount.  

Richard and Judy are joined in this episode by Ashley Bruce, Senior Buyer for Adult Books at WHSmith, to take a peek behind the curtains at the Richard and Judy Book Club and discuss this week’s Book Club pick ‘Lily’ by Rose Tremain. Lily, a historical fiction novel, is this week’s Book Club pick. Set in Victorian England, this is a story of murder and revenge. A baby is abandoned at the gates of a park only to be saved by a young policeman and taken to the Foundling Hospital. After suffering years of brutal hardship at the Hospital, Lily is released into the world of Victorian London. But she’s hiding a dreadful secret... Richard and Judy also chat with Ashley about behind the scenes of each season’s Book Club selections, from the moment publishers submit their books for consideration, to the huge group of people who read and begin to whittle the list down, to what Richard and Judy are looking for when they select their final six for each collection.

A former party girl is getting married, and brings together all the women in her life for a hen do on a sun-soaked Greek island in this week’s Book Club novel One Of The Girls. All dying for a holiday, the six women are ready to throw themselves into four days of drinking and wild freedom, but by the final night there’s a body on the rocks below their beautiful terrace, and one of the girls knows what happened. Returning Book Club author Lucy Clarke joins Richard and Judy to explore the charm, allure, and danger of the places on Earth where the land meets the sea. They also discuss how alcohol on holidays can loosen tongues and bring strained relationships within a group to the fore. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Summer Book Club collection, and use the code SUMMER22 for a 10% discount.

WWI, author Ken Follett believes, was caused by a number of small incidents that were not properly dealt with at the time. It’s a similar gradual escalation that poses a threat to global stability in his new novel Never. Ken explains to Richard and Judy why he’s careful not to be politically biased in his novels, and why his characters must have a rich personal life as well as playing a strategic or military role in order for readers to empathise and feel invested in the story. Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Summer Book Club collection, and use the code SUMMER22 for a 10% discount.