Colm Toibin, author of "House of Names," in conversation with Richard Wolinsky.

"House of Names" is a retelling of the story of the House of Atreus, the classic Greek tragedy of Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, Electra and Orestes, which formed the basis of plays by Sophocles, Euripedes and Aeschylus, as well as influenced playwrights from Shakespeare to Eugene O'Neill.

Colm Toibin is the author of several novels, including "Brooklyn," recently made into an award-winning film. In this interview he also discusses "Brooklyn" and the upcoming film "Return to Montauk" which recently played at the Berlin Festival, as well as some of the current political resonances of "House of Names." A shorter version of this interview aired on the KPFA program Bookwaves.