Steve Bertrand on Books

Sally Hepworth’s Mad Molly has been the word-of-mouth book of the year. It has climbed to the New York Times bestseller list not once, but twice: a clear sign that friends are telling friends about this funny, sad, ultimately heartwarming story about a cranky old lady who is hiding a secret from her teenage years. Sally talks with Steve about the wild ride on the sales list and the unexpected inspiration for the book. 

How about a little romance? Rachel Pologe’s Now That We Don’t Talk follows Nora and Henry in this sweet, funny holiday romance. They’re in love and loathe at the same time. The issue comes to a head when their mothers announce they’re getting engaged.  Rache talks with Steve about romance, TV writing, and why she never thought this fun book would ever be written.

Long after Tom Clancy’s death, his character Jack Ryan lives on. Clancy died in 2013. Since then, several authors have continued the Ryan series. The latest is Jack Stewart with Pressure Depth. He talks with Steve about Tom, Jack, and his own fighter pilot experience.

Ann Cleeves has filled library shelves and BritBox TV lineups for years. Whether it’s beloved Vera, my pet, Shetland, or her new Mathew Venn series, Ann brings the north of England alive. Her news book is The Dying Light. She talks with Steve about her success and how it took 20 years to get noticed.

Jane Hamilton is known for her novels A Map of the World and The Book of Ruth. Her latest is The Phoebe Variations, which was nearly 10 years in the making. In this week’s podcast, she talks with Steve about Phoebe’s journey into adulthood and about her own fears that her novel-writing career might have been over.

Novelist Henry Wise joins Steve Bertrand on Books this week to talk about Promised Land, a story of loyalty and simmering antagonism set in the swamps of Virginia. Of particular interest is the impact of the Civil War that Wise says is sometimes still felt in parts of the South.

Did you know there’s a book genre called the feminist caper? It’s having its moment with help from Alex Hay’s novel The Midnight Guests. This is a fun read that follows Diana Gold on the night she opens an opulent hotel in 1926. The guests at the party have no idea she has to raise a million dollars by midnight. 

Author Elizabeth Letts’ novel Fallen for France takes us from the farthest reaches of Morocco to the front lines in France during the early days of World War l with a captivating story of a young boy and his love for a magnificent horse. It’s a beautiful story of love, trust and survival as the horse’s journey is helped by several compelling characters along the way. I loved talking with Elizabeth about the book, Morocco (her father-in-law was indentured as a child), and the way we choose which books to read these days.

Hope House is described as a tender, and yet profane, study of masculinity. Put another way: Hope House follows a group of delinquents trying to find a better life (in most cases) and a halfway house leader desperate to help them discover their way. It’s a loving tribune from author Joe Bond, whose father ran the sorts of homes described in this book and it’s part memoir: Joe was along for the ride. He talks with Steve about growing up with petty criminals and watching his dad continually rolling the rock up hill.

The Mississippi Delta and the Cajuns who live there are under threat. When the land dwindles, the culture erodes. That’s the setting behind Stephanie Soileau’s novel, Should the Water Take Us. The story begins during the Deepwater Oil explosion and after Katrina but also follows the Acadians’ trek from Canada to elsewhere, including Kankakee county. Steve is a descendant and might have grown up eating gumbo rather than Chicago pizza. The characters here are deep, even if the water isn’t. Learn about both while they’re still with us.