Showing titles in Authors

Tatiana de Rosnay is the perfect candidate to write a biography of Daphne du Maurier. As an 11-year-old de Rosnay read and reread Rebecca, becoming a lifelong devotee of Du Maurier's fiction. Now de Rosnay pays homage to the writer who influenced her so deeply, following Du Maurier from a shy seven-year-old to a rebellious 16-year-old, a 20-something newlywed, and finally a cantankerous old lady.

Time Lived, Without Its Flow is an astonishing, unflinching essay on the nature of grief from critically acclaimed poet Denise Riley. From the horrific experience of maternal grief Riley wrote her lauded collection Say Something Back, a modern classic of British poetry. This essay is a companion piece to that work, looking at the way time stops when we lose someone suddenly from our lives.

When life got in the way of Mortimer and Whitehouse's friendship, they found their connection dwindled to occasional catch ups and one-off phone calls. Then, conveniently, they were both diagnosed with heart disease! And they realised life is short, and they should spend it together, doing what they love: fishing. Following the success of their BBC series, Gone Fishing, Mortimer and Whitehouse have created an audiobook of the same name, which is their love letter to the joys of angling, and the simple wonder of just having a laugh with your mates.

In his own time (701-762), Li Bai's poems - shaped by Daoist thought and characterized by their passion, romance, and lust for life - were never given their proper due by the official literary gatekeepers. Nonetheless, his lines rang out on the lips of court entertainers, tavern singers, soldiers, and writers throughout the Tang dynasty. The Banished Immortal is an extraordinary portrait of a poet who both transcended his time and was shaped by it and whose ability to live, love, and mourn without reservation produced some of the most enduring verses.

Matt Haig joins Robin Morgan in the Audible Studios for this exclusive interview. The breadth of Matt Haig's work ranges from 2015’s Reasons to Stay Alive which explored Haig’s experience of depression, to The Last Family in England which retells Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1 with the protagonists as dogs. Both of these were bestsellers and the subject of great critical acclaim.

In Inadvertent, internationally best-selling author Karl Ove Knausgaard reveals his beginnings as a writer and his literary influences, as well as his creative development and his struggles. But this audiobook is more than a window into the writer's frame of mind. It's also a glimmering meditation on literature and creativity - on its limitations and its freedoms.

Bob Roth, meditation teacher and CEO of the David Lynch Foundation, joins us to discuss his latest audiobook, Strength in Stillness: The Power of Transcendental Meditation. Roth’s audiobook examines what we might do to combat the growing stress epidemic which has gripped the world and why he believes that transcendental meditation is a key tool. In this interview we discuss what transcendental meditation is, how he first came across the technique and how the view of meditation has changed over the years.

David Suchet, veteran actor best-known for his iconic portrayal of Agatha Christie’s Poirot, joins us to discuss the release of his new audio series, David Suchet's Questions of Faith. Exploring the differences which divide and the similarities which unite the three Abrahamic religions, David talks to prominent figures within the Jewish, Christian and Islamic communities, searching for answers to the devastating wars that have been waged against one another. In this exclusive interview, David reflects back on his findings, the many eye-opening conversations he’s had along the way and his hopes for a peaceful future.

"Walden. Yesterday I came here to live." That entry from the journal of Henry David Thoreau, and the intellectual journey it began, would by themselves be enough to place Thoreau in the American pantheon. His attempt to "live deliberately" in a small woods at the edge of his hometown of Concord has been a touchstone for individualists and seekers since the publication of Walden in 1854. But there was much more to Thoreau than his brief experiment in living at Walden Pond.

International best-selling author Ken Follett has captivated listeners with over 50 titles including Eye of the Needle and The Century Trilogy. The Kingsbridge series was Ken's first venture into the middle ages, and after the astounding critical acclaim with which The Pillars of The Earth and World Without End have met, a third instalment has been in high demand. Ken visits the Audible Studios to introduce A Column of Fire, the long-awaited continuation of the saga.

Self-help expert Jamie Smart joins Robin Morgan in the Audible Studios to discuss the writing and narrating processes for his books.

Best-selling author Sophie Kinsella joins Sophie Plateau in the Audible Studios to discuss her new novel, My Not So Perfect Life. It follows the character of Katie Brenner: a woman who leads the perfect life on Instagram but not in the real world.

Audible exclusive. We welcome Jodi Taylor to Audible to discuss her hit series The Chronicles of St Mary's - the adventures of a group of investigative time travelling historians. Jodi Taylor is, and always has been, a complete history nut. It takes vast amounts of chocolate to get her out of bed for anything after 1485. And if it's raining, there's no chance.

Audible exclusive. We welcome Cressida Cowell to the studios to talk about the 12th installment of her hit series How to Train Your Dragon. Discussing how the series is rooted on a small Scottish island that she used to visit when she was young. We are treated to a look behind the scenes of the imagination, magic and creativity which goes into crafting each book.

Audible exclusive. You shared your life online. Now how will you get it back? We welcome Matthew Blakstad to the studios this week to discuss his debut novel Sockpuppet. Exploring data, technology and privacy we are treated to a preview of what to expect from his audiobook released on May 19th.

His best stories are the stories of his life. His father grew up in a New York poorhouse called the 'Pogie'. He worked at a psychiatric hospital where he met the singer James Taylor and the poet Robert Lowell. Both were patients. He was at Woodstock and was also an usher at the Fillmore East. He was CEO of advertising agency J. Walter Thompson North America when he was thirty-seven. He wrote the ad jingle, 'I'm a Toys 'R' Us Kid'. He once watched Norman Mailer and James Baldwin square off to fight. He's played golf with three US presidents and has nine holes-in-one.

Consisting of over 20 years of letters, essays, reflections, and interviews, Frantumaglia is a unique depiction of an author who embodies a consummate passion for writing. Ferrante answers many of her listeners’ questions. She addresses her choice to stand aside and let her books live autonomous lives.

Behind every acclaimed work of literature is a trove of heartfelt decisions. The best authors put painstaking - sometimes obsessive - effort into each element of their stories, from plot and character development to dialogue and point of view. Veteran editor and teacher Richard Cohen draws on his vast reservoir of a lifetime's reading and his insight into what makes good prose soar.

Other Colours is a collection of immediate relevance and timeless value, ranging from lyrical autobiography to criticism of literature and culture, from humour to political analysis, from delicate evocations of his friendship with his daughter Ruya to provocative discussions of Eastern and Western art. It also covers Pamuk's recent, high profile, court case.

Exclusive to Audible. National treasure, Pam St Clement, visits the Audible studios to talk about her experience whilst writing and recording her biography. Engaging, funny and warm - we draw back the curtain revealing the personality behind her on-screen persona. The End of an Earring reveals the woman behind the popular EastEnders' character, a woman who, apart perhaps from her earrings, couldn't be more different from Pat.