Eleanor Catton was just 28 when she won the Booker Prize for her novel The Luminaries. Her much anticipated follow-up, Birnam Wood, is an eco thriller, a Shakespearean tragedy, a satire and novel of manners all rolled into one. This week, Michael sits down with Eleanor to discuss her latest book and the dangers of feeling ideologically certain.

Reading list:

The Rehearsal, Eleanor Catton, 2008

The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton, 2013 

Birnam Wood, Eleanor Catton, 2023

The People's Platform, Astra Taylor, 2014

Green Dot, Madeleine Gray, 2023

Songs for the Dead and the Living, Sara M Saleh, 2023

You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. Or if you want to listen to them as audiobooks, you can head to the Read This reading room on Apple Books.

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Guest: Eleanor Catton

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