Take Four Books

Take Four Books speaks to writer Gurnaik Johal about his debut novel ‘Saraswati’, a tale about a holy river that appears to resurface in modern-day India. The story begins with Satnam, a man living in Wolverhampton, whose life becomes entangled in the unfolding events. His journey leads him to discover six distant relatives scattered across the world, all drawn together in a rapidly changing India.

‘Saraswati’ was shortlisted for this year’s Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize. The three books that influenced Gurnaik’s novel are: The Great Derangement by Amitav Ghosh; Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad; and Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz.

The supporting contributor is multi-award-winning writer, Professor of World Literature and Creative Writing at Newcastle University, and BBC New Generation Thinker, Preti Taneja.

Producer: Rachael O’Neill Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

Presented by James Crawford, Take Four Books, speaks to the Irish writer Colm Tóibín about his latest novel - Long Island - and explores its connections to three other literary works. Long Island, now out in paperback, is the sequel to the best-selling novel Brooklyn, and we're back with Eilis Lacey. It's the spring of 1976 and one day, when her husband Tony is at work, an Irishman comes to the door asking for Eilis by name. What this man tells Eilis changes her life. And so begins Long Island which sees Eilis return to her homeland after decades abroad. For his three influences Colm chose: The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy (1886); Victory by Joseph Conrad (1915); and The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (1920). The supporting contributor for this episode is award-winning novelist and short story writer Jan Carson.

Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production for Radio 4.

Presented by James Crawford, Take Four Books, speaks to the writer Madeleine Thien about her new novel and explores its links to three other literary works. The Book Of Records is an epic, time-warping exploration of individual lives shaped by migration, exile, war and oppression. The book follows the story of Lina, a young girl who has been forced to emigrate from her homeland, and together with her father winds up at a mysterious place called 'the Sea', which turns out to be a shapeshifting and time-shifting fantasy of a refugee camp. Fictional characters are based on real people from history, we have the German philosopher Hannah Arendt fleeing Europe during the Second World War, the Jewish scholar and philosopher Baruch Spinoza, and the eighth century Chinese poet, Du Fu all coming to life on the page. The supporting contributor for this episode is the writer and lecturer Sarah Bernstein, whose 2023 novel Study for Obedience was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

For her three influences, Madeleine chooses: Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities (1972); Men in Dark Times by Hannah Arendt (1968); and Touch by Adania Shibli (2010).

Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan

This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.