Benedict Wells, plus Man Booker International prize and London book fair news – books podcast

On this week’s show, Claire and Sian return from wandering around the London book fair to chat about the big books snapped up at this year’s event. What will we be reading in 2019 and 2020? The shortlist for the 2018 Man Booker International prize for translated fiction was also announced, and has a couple of surprises in store – who will win?

Then Sian speaks to Benedict Wells, the author of The End of Loneliness. A bestseller in his native Germany, this bildungsroman follows the often difficult life of Jules, from a formative childhood tragedy into adult life. Wells talks about the strangeness of having his novel translated into so many languages, writing an emotional story without veering into mawkishness and his love for John Irving.

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