In this episode of Pagecast, Jeremy Boraine sits down with acclaimed author James Whyle to discuss his latest literary work, We Two From Heaven. In this conversation they touch on the creative process, the themes that shaped the book, and the profound narratives woven throughout this remarkable work. Don't miss this insightful conversation that bridges literature and life.

Whether you're a devoted reader or a curious listener, this episode offers a unique glimpse into the story behind the story.

More about the book:

We Two from Heaven is a singular memoir, a four-part fugue on the tricks and traps of memory, a shuffling of the cards of time. Episodes from the early life of writer James Whyle are interwoven with the letters of his father from the Western Front during the First World War. Their formative experiences – war, conscription, injury, desertion – flash by, juxtaposed, as if in counterpoint.

How do we know who we are? Upending the reader’s expectations of a memoir, Whyle then explores the violence and madness of apartheid society as the narrator passes through boarding school and university and takes his first steps to become a writer. Raw and rhythmic, lyrical and caustic, this is an unsparing, formally inventive dissection of human vanities and illusions.

At the end of history, on the shores of a blue bay, the voices of the past can be heard as we await the arrival of the barbarians – or the baboons, whoever comes first.

More about James and Jeremy:

James Whyle grew up in the Amatole Mountains in South Africa. Conscripted into the apartheid army, he was discharged on the grounds of insanity. He did everything in his power to assist the authorities in arriving at this diagnosis. The resulting play, National Madness, won an Amstel Playwright of the Year merit award in 1982. His story, The Story, was chosen by JM Coetzee as winner of the 2011 Pen/Studzinski competition. The Book of War, a novel, won the M-Net Lit Prize for best debut in 2012.

Jeremy Boraine is Publishing Director at Jonathan Ball Publishers.

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