THE GLASS PEARLS by Emeric Pressburger chosen by Ian Rankin

Rebus creator, Ian Rankin, expresses his admiration for filmmaker and novelist Emeric Pressburger's skilfully empathetic characterisation of a fleeing Nazi war criminal in his novel, The Glass Pearls. All the more impressive when you realise that Pressburger was a Hungarian Jew who'd had to flee Nazi Germany.

Mull Historical Society singer-songwriter, Colin MacIntyre, recommends Widow Basquiat by Jennifer Clement - the biography of the New York street artist Jean Michel Basquiat's long suffering girlfriend and muse Suzanne, documenting their life together in the New York art scene of the early 1980s, a time when hip-hop, New Wave and street art converged to make New York the edgy centre of a burgeoning arts scene.

Presenter Harriett Gilbert chooses The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi, a novel told from an Afghan woman's perspective, as she sits in one room praying over the comatose body of her wounded fighter husband. Battles rage outside, as she sits and prays for his recovery. But as time passes, her voice becomes louder and more powerful as her rage grows.

Producer: Maggie Ayre, BBC Audio Bristol