Avni Doshi joins Tom’s Book Club to discuss The First House, her dark and hypnotic second novel about marriage, motherhood, divorce, power and transformation.

The novel begins with a woman being told by her husband that he wants a divorce. Convinced that they have had an almost perfect marriage, she is left to pick through the ruins of their shared life while caring for their two young daughters. As the summer unfolds, memories of her marriage begin to shift, warning signs emerge, and the boundaries between reality, mythology, astrology and the natural world start to blur.

In this conversation, Avni Doshi talks about the inspiration behind The First House, creating an unnamed and flawed narrator, and exploring the power dynamics within marriage and family. We discuss patriarchy, motherhood, midlife, astrology, mythology and more.

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

In this special episode of Tom’s Book Club: Behind The Books, Tom talks to Patrice Lawrence, the newly appointed Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2026–2028, about children’s books, reading, representation and the power of stories to make young people feel seen and heard.

Patrice Lawrence is the award-winning author of Orangeboy, Needle, Is That Your Mama?, Granny Came Here on the Empire Windrush and Our Story Starts in Africa. A decade after the publication of Orangeboy, she takes on one of the most important roles in British children’s literature.

In this conversation, Patrice discusses what it means to become Children’s Laureate, her plans for the role, and the importance of children seeing themselves reflected in books. 

Patrice also reflects on her own childhood reading, the books that shaped her, the realities of writing for children today, and why she still feels guilty about an encounter with a Doctor Who companion.

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

Debut author Katie Huttlestone joins Tom's Book Club to discuss A Healthy Appetite, a darkly funny and unsettling novel about cancer, recovery, desire and what we might sacrifice to survive.

Hannah has spent a decade living with cancer. Now in her thirties, with her future seemingly disappearing before her, she's given the chance to take part in a clinical trial that could save her life. But when the treatment begins to work, Hannah's appetite returns, first for meat, despite being a committed vegetarian, and then for much more.

In this episode, Katie Huttlestone talks about writing "recovery horror", drawing on her own experience of cancer, and exploring what happens after survival. We discuss Hannah's changing relationship with her body, sex and desire and the complicated reality of relying on the NHS while recognising its flaws.

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

Booker Prize-winning author Samantha Harvey joins Tom's Book Club to discuss her acclaimed novel Orbital, a luminous story set aboard the International Space Station that explores time, humanity and our fragile place in the universe.

Recorded in 2024, the morning after Samantha Harvey's Booker Prize win, this episode revisits a conversation about the inspiration behind Orbital, writing about space, finding wonder in the everyday, and how one of the year's most celebrated novels came together.

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

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Colson Whitehead joins Tom's Book Club to discuss Cool Machine, the gripping final instalment in his acclaimed Harlem Trilogy.

In this episode, Colson Whitehead talks about bringing the Harlem Trilogy to a close, creating one of his most memorable characters in Ray Carney, researching New York's criminal underworld, writing about ageing, art and restitution, and whether he'd ever return to these characters. He also reflects on becoming the only living novelist to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction twice, and the influence Star Wars has had on his writing.

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

Daniel Mason joins Tom's Book Club to discuss Country People, his witty and richly imagined new novel blending folklore, family life and the strange stories communities choose to believe.

In this episode, Daniel talks about the inspiration behind Country People, creating the warm but wonderfully hapless Miles Krzelewski, writing unforgettable eccentric characters, and why humour plays such an important role in his fiction. He also discusses local legends, our desire to believe the unbelievable, and how his work as a psychiatrist informs his writing.

Daniel Mason is the author of North Woods, The Piano Tuner and The Winter Soldier, while his story collection A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth was a Pulitzer Prize finalist.

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

Debut novelist Aisling Rawle joins Tom's Book Club to discuss her acclaimed novel The Compound.

Set inside a mysterious reality television competition in the desert, The Compound blends literary fiction, satire and suspense to explore consumerism, inequality, entertainment and our fascination with watching others.

Aisling discusses the origins of the novel, the reality TV shows that influenced her writing, creating the character of Lily, the novel's links to Animal Farm, writing the first draft in just six weeks, and why the story's mysteries are left deliberately unresolved.

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

What does a literary critic actually do? How are books chosen for review? And do reviews still matter in the age of Goodreads, BookTok and social media?

In this special Behind The Books episode of Tom's Book Club, Tom speaks to Laura Hackett, Deputy Literary Editor and Fiction Editor at The Times and The Sunday Times, about life as one of Britain's leading literary critics. Laura discusses the reviewing process, how she approaches a new novel, writing positive and negative reviews, dealing with authors' reactions, and the changing role of criticism in 2026.

Behind The Books is our monthly bonus series exploring the wider literary world through conversations with the people who shape it, from booksellers and critics to editors, translators and illustrators.

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

Bestselling author Dave Eggers joins Tom's Book Club to discuss his new novel, Contrapposto.

Spanning almost seven decades, Contrapposto follows Cricket and Olympia, two friends united by a love of art and a belief that they can change the world. In this wide-ranging conversation, Dave Eggers discusses creativity, the power of art, the parallels between painting and writing, creating one of his favourite ever characters, and why this novel was more than twenty years in the making.

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

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