Ready for chick-lit Middlemarch? Today we dive into Jill Mansell’s Millie’s Fling with author of the forthcoming Midnight Chicken & Other Recipes Worth Living For, Ella Risbridger. When 25 year old Millie witnesses the famous romance novelist Orla Hart about to throw herself off a cliff, she strikes up a friendship with Orla that changes her life. Orla has decided that she wants to write a realistic literary romance novel about “real people” and pays Millie to be her real-life subject. We talk grief, wine, shopping lists and snobbery, plus we have a sneak preview of our chat with the author ahead of the upcoming bonus episode.

Music by Harry Harris, artwork by Gavin Day. Recorded at Acast and produced by Hannah Varrall.

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Bridget Jones drinks like a fish, smokes like a chimney and dresses like her mother - and somehow became a global multi-million dollar franchise in the process. This week, we talk to Bridget super-fan and writer of the Sofia Khan series Ayisha Malik. As well as discussing Bridget's indomitable spirit and how the character became feminist Marmite, we chat about how to write satire in a world that wants to paint women as flawless, what people expect when a Muslim woman writes a romcom and why characters who smoke are the most fun to write.

Music by Harry Harris, artwork by Gavin Day. Recorded at Acast and produced by Hannah Varrall.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After talking all things Watermelon with Lucy Vine, we grabbed Marian Keyes on Skype to tell us more about her debut novel. We discuss feminism in the 1990s, growing up in a big family, and how she became the indisputable queen of chick-lit.

Music by Harry Harris, artwork by Gavin Day. Recorded at Acast and produced by Hannah Varrall.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week is full of firsts: we're discussing Marian Keyes' first book, Watermelon, which also happens to be the first chick-lit that our guest Lucy Vine ever read. We get into the Walsh sisters, emotional abuse and why all debut novels are exactly two months long. We also grab Marian herself on the phone to talk about her memories of writing the book and the benefits of not having a clue what you're doing.

Music by Harry Harris, artwork by Gavin Day. Recorded at Acast and produced by Hannah Varrall.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After speaking to Lauren Bravo about The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets, we tracked down the author of the book, Eva Rice, to talk Take That, Julian the Loaf and why the 1950s are such an intriguing time period to set a novel in.

Music by Harry Harris, artwork by Gavin Day. Recorded at Acast and produced by Hannah Varrall.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Writer and author of "What Would the Spice Girls Do?" Lauren Bravo talks about Eva Rice's 2008 smash-hit The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets, a book that's part Nancy Mitford, part Dodie Smith, and entirely delightful. The book is set in 1950s London, and follows Penelope, a shy 18 year old girl and heir to the crumbling mansion Milton Magna, as she befriends Charlotte and her cousin Harry. Harry is a magician and in love with an American IT girl called Marina. He bribes Penelope to be his girlfriend to make Marina jealous, and the two end up falling for each other. Lauren and Caroline discuss the era, the call of America, the power of music and mutual adoration of a pop culture icon, and how exactly the parakeets ended up in London.

Music by Harry Harris, artwork by Gavin Day. Recorded at Acast and produced by Hannah Varrall.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Sentimental Garbage, a podcast celebrating chick-lit and the so-called guilty pleasures you’re done feeling guilty about.

In series 1, author and journalist Caroline O'Donoghue talks to writers Lauren Bravo, Lucy Vine, Ayisha Malik, Ella Risbridger and Helen O'Hara about some of their favourite chick-lit novels, and gets a chance to ask authors Marian Keyes, Eva Rice and Jill Mansell all about their work.

Click subscribe now to be the first to hear series 1, launching December 6th 2018.

Music by Harry Harris, artwork by Gavin Day. Recorded at Acast and produced by Hannah Varrall.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.