This week's episode is the multi best selling Irish writer, John Boyne. You will almost certainly have read The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas or The Heart's Invisible Furies and the latest venture for John is a quarter of books which he's been releasing every six months. Next year, he'll release them in one compendium called The Elements. But hot on the heels of Water and Earth, comes Fire: a disturbing novella which looks at child sexual exploitation from the point of view of a female abuser of young boys.

During our conversation, John explains that the idea for this quarter of books came after he himself was inspired to report his own abuse at the hands of one of his teachers to Police, following a high profile trial of a different abuser in Ireland.

He hopes this book - whilst a work of fiction - might help others to come forward and report their abuse.

Trigger Warning: Whilst this episode does not talk in detail about sexual abuse, there is conversation about John's first hand experience of abuse and the reporting process he went through. But there's no description of the abuse that took place and neither is there any description of the abuse depicted in the novel.

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Here are Phil and Natalie's Books of the Year for 2024.

Five picks each. You'll find all of them with links to buy each book on our website

Thanks so much for listening. Please remember to rate, review and subscribe to our podcast and don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list on our website, to hear about Season 8 exclusively...!

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This episode has it all - writing yourself into fiction, being inspired by classic literature, the joy and benefits of being a bit spiky, oh, and there is a fair amount of swearing in this. As an added bonus - depending on your point of view - Nat and Phil also divulge their favourite swear words at the end of the ep... This Motherless Land is Nikki May's story inspired by Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, but takes it to a totally different place and time and feeling. It's a joy to read and Nikki is a joy to spend time with!

Find out more about this season and Nikki's recommendations at www.bestsellerspodcast.co

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