The Richard and Judy Book Club, exclusive to WHSmith

Three women agree that something must be done about their misogynistic boss in this week’s Book Club novel, Payday, but when that man is found dead, the question is whether those women really did follow through with their pact.

Author Celia Walden joins Richard and Judy to talk about how the different ages of the aggrieved women helped her reveal changing attitudes to harassment in the work place, and they all share their own reflections on the Me Too movement.

Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Autumn Book Club collection, and use the code AUTUMN22 for a 10% discount.

Taking inspiration from real stories of ‘road ghosts’ who allegedly lurk on lonely lanes, this week’s Book Club novel asks how three of four girls who were in a car crash mysteriously just disappeared.

The Girls Who Disappeared is written by Claire Douglas, who joins Richard and Judy to talk about how entering a writing competition changed her career. They also all share their experiences of being journalists having to cover tragic stories, and reveal why they might lie to their editors... Plus, as we approach Halloween, Richard tells his own spooky story about the time he saw a ghost in Paris.

Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Autumn Book Club collection, and use the code AUTUMN22 for a 10% discount.

‘Herd immunity’ is a term that’s been talked about a lot over the last few years, and it’s the divisive topic of vaccinations that author Emily Edwards chose to write about in this week’s Book Club novel, The Herd. However, it’s not COVID that Emily’s story centres around, but childhood vaccinations.

Emily joins Richard and Judy to talk about why she didn’t want to present anti-vaxxers as unthinking people, instead wanting to explore the idea that generally those who are pro-vaccination, and those who are anti-vaccination, are motivated by the same thing: fear. She also discusses whether all her research for the book has changed her opinion on vaccinating her own children.

Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Autumn Book Club collection, and use the code AUTUMN22 for a 10% discount.

The mesmerising landscape of the Isle of Harris is the setting for this week’s Book Club novel, Little Wing. Author Freya North has written the powerful story of two families over three generations, in it exploring what it really means to belong.  

Freya tells Richard and Judy why ‘what if?’ is one of the most powerful questions an author can ask. What if, Freya asked herself, her central character – quirky 16 year old Florence – found herself pregnant? And what if she was banished to a far flung island? Freya has written 15 books, but she tells Richard and Judy that this character in Little Wing might just be her favourite.

Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Autumn Book Club collection, and use the code AUTUMN22 for a 10% discount.

After a young man goes missing on a stag do in the Wyoming wilderness, an unlikely group of volunteers get together five years later to try to find him. The group – including the missing man’s father, and a Big Foot hunter – must hike deep into the woods in search of answers.

Richard and Judy are joined by author Lisa Gardner, whose research for the book included a wilderness survival course. She shares what she learnt, including how to make a fire, whether to prioritise food or shelter, and how to use the flora as medicine.

Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Autumn Book Club collection, and use the code AUTUMN22 for a 10% discount.

When a woman is murdered, the husband is always suspect number one. That’s certainly the case in this week’s Book Club novel, Take Your Breath Away. Brie – thought to have been killed six years ago – suddenly turns up screaming outside her old house, and her husband Andy’s future depends on discovering what’s going on.

Author Linwood Barclay, a returning Book Club author, joins Richard and Judy to share experiences of working to tight deadlines as newspaper columnists, and why as a result he doesn’t believe in the concept of writer’s block, and doesn’t over write when it comes to descriptions.

Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Autumn Book Club collection, and use the code AUTUMN22 for a 10% discount.

There’s sun, sea, and a mysterious serpent in this week’s Book Club novel, How To Kill Your Best Friend. A friendship group are on holiday when a star swimmer drowns off the coast of a remote island. Author Lexie Elliot tells Richard and Judy how she was inspired by her own time in South East Asia, as well as her background as a wild swimmer. They also discuss the myths of creatures like the Loch Ness Monster lurking under water, and how shared passions or hobbies can keep friendship groups together over many decades.

Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Summer Book Club collection, and use the code SUMMER22 for a 10% discount.

Richard and Judy are joined in this episode by Ashley Bruce, Senior Buyer for Adult Books at WHSmith, to take a peek behind the curtains at the Richard and Judy Book Club and discuss this week’s Book Club pick ‘Lily’ by Rose Tremain.

Lily, a historical fiction novel, is this week’s Book Club pick. Set in Victorian England, this is a story of murder and revenge. A baby is abandoned at the gates of a park only to be saved by a young policeman and taken to the Foundling Hospital. After suffering years of brutal hardship at the Hospital, Lily is released into the world of Victorian London. But she’s hiding a dreadful secret...

Richard and Judy also chat with Ashley about behind the scenes of each season’s Book Club selections, from the moment publishers submit their books for consideration, to the huge group of people who read and begin to whittle the list down, to what Richard and Judy are looking for when they select their final six for each collection.

A former party girl is getting married, and brings together all the women in her life for a hen do on a sun-soaked Greek island in this week’s Book Club novel One Of The Girls. All dying for a holiday, the six women are ready to throw themselves into four days of drinking and wild freedom, but by the final night there’s a body on the rocks below their beautiful terrace, and one of the girls knows what happened.

Returning Book Club author Lucy Clarke joins Richard and Judy to explore the charm, allure, and danger of the places on Earth where the land meets the sea. They also discuss how alcohol on holidays can loosen tongues and bring strained relationships within a group to the fore.

Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Summer Book Club collection, and use the code SUMMER22 for a 10% discount.

WWI, author Ken Follett believes, was caused by a number of small incidents that were not properly dealt with at the time. It’s a similar gradual escalation that poses a threat to global stability in his new novel Never.

Ken explains to Richard and Judy why he’s careful not to be politically biased in his novels, and why his characters must have a rich personal life as well as playing a strategic or military role in order for readers to empathise and feel invested in the story.

Simply head online to whsmith.co.uk to browse the Summer Book Club collection, and use the code SUMMER22 for a 10% discount.