The Book Show

The surprising Australian links in Min Jin Lee's latest novel American Hagwon. And Bonnie Garmus stresses the importance of poetry in Peck and Peck, the follow up to Lessons in Chemistry.  
Why did it take ten years to write American Hagwon, the third novel exploring the Korean diaspora after Pachinko? Find out as Korean American author Min Jin Lee describes to Claire Nichols the ideas behind this family saga set just after the Asian financial crisis. The novel which centres on the sacrifices parents make to educate their children, but is also about expectations, class, migration and ultimately a celebration of family unity. While tackling the endemic Korean private cram academies called Hagwon, the story takes us to Korea, Sydney and California. And as a regular visitor to these shores, Min Jin Lee has some interesting conclusions about Australia's education and health systems.
And while Bonnie Garmus tells Claire Nichols the themes in her latest novel are very different from Lessons in Chemistry, the idea for Peck and Peck also came to her after a bad day at work. This time though it was a poem on the radio that sparked a story about a young man with an ear for identifying good poetry. And the complexities of twins.

Conservative politician and bestselling author, Jeffrey Archer has died at 86. In one of the final interviews of his life, he recounts how his changing financial, personal and political fortunes propelled his writing career.
Jeffery Archer's own life story was just as colourful as those in the pages of his books. He was a British MP until he went bankrupt, then in 1976 he published the novel Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less which began his 50 year career as a novelist. He was made a British Lord, worked for Margaret Thatcher and went to jail for perjury.
With his days in politics long behind him, Jeffrey Archer was in a reflective mood for this interview. He told Claire Nichols that his new novel, Adam and Eve, was the best thing he'd written and it would be his last.

Why Shaun Micallef's latest novel DeAth Takes a Holiday features a cast of gothic characters including a vampire suffering from ennui, zombie slaves and the resurrection of the skeletal remains of Queen Victoria's husband.
What happens when you have to step in to a gig at the last minute?  With almost zero preparation Claire Nichols had to draw on all her skills to fill in as host at the Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival. But with a guest like comedian, author, TV presenter Shaun Micallef perhaps even the most rigorous research can never prepare you for what's about to unfold.  Thank goodness Claire had actually read and interviewed him about his new book DeAth Takes a Holiday, a unique perspective on the Gothic romance horror where the harbinger of Dracula attempts mortality. You can hear that interview here.   From his hilarious description of the font used, to the inspiration for the book; the 19th century satirical utopian novel Erewhon, Shaun pokes affectionate fun at the format of books, reprises his favourite historical figures and ponders more serious questions about the current state of the world. And is that Trump making an appearance?

Geraldine Brooks explains how she stumbled across the story that inspired her 17th century plague novel, Year of Wonders and Zoe Foster Blake channels her favourite getaways and strong female friendships in her latest novel Group Chat.
For Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books vote, Geraldine Brooks takes Claire Nichols back to the beginnings of her beloved debut Year of Wonders and reflects on whether it's an Australian novel despite being set in 17th century England. Now, 25 years after publication, Geraldine is amused by how she depicted horses in the novel (she's now a keen horserider), but she's still proud of it and offers wise words about the importance of accepting our younger selves.  
Will you be voting for Year of Wonders? Vote now in ABC Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books.
Zoe Foster Blake describes to Claire Nichols how holidays in her favourite Greek island of Mykonos and her enduring friendships with women over decades inspired her latest novel. Group Chat is about five women in their forties who gather for a week of extravagance to support a girlfriend who's discovered her husband is cheating. As they dance till dawn, sip cocktails at beach bars or on luxury yachts, the women also question their own suburban lives and ask themselves, is that all there is?  
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Kim Scott was so disturbed by how Noongar people were depicted in the Western Australian archive that he wrote Benang: From the Heart. Plus Kate Grenville explains the origins of her latest genre-bending book and how The Secret River became a novel.  
In 2000, Kim Scott's Benang won the Miles Franklin Literary Award making him the first Indigenous author to win the prestigious prize (shared with Drylands by Thea Astley). In this special interview for Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books vote, he tells Claire Nichols why he wrote Benang as a reckoning with his own Noongar identity. Kim shares the rage he felt reading the work of A.O. Neville, the notorious WA "Chief Protector of Aborigines" and his reaction to the photos of Indigenous people used throughout Neville's racist manifesto "Australia's Coloured Minority". 
Will you be voting for Benang: From the Heart? Vote now in ABC Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books.
Kate Grenville is the author of many books that explore Australian history including her celebrated novel, The Secret River. Her latest The Country Schoolmaster: A Mystery in 88 Letters is a genre-bending exploration of the archive and asks where does truth lie? Kate also tells Claire about how The Secret River began its life and why the book is still special to her. 
Kate Grenville is a regular guest on The Book Show and you can listen to Kate and Claire discuss the novel A Room Made of Leaves, a fictionalised account of the life of Elizabeth Macarthur. Or listen to Kate discussing her novel Restless Dolly Maunder. 
We want to know what you think of Radio National's book podcasts (The Book Show and The Bookshelf). Help us understand what's working, what's not, and how we can make our book programs even more useful, relevant and unmissable. Please take this quick survey.