Autumn 2014 Book Club

Jane Shemilt talks about the influence of her life as a GP on her novel Daughter.

We absolutely loved this book, about a GP and her family and the sudden horror that devastates their lives when the 16-year-old daughter disappears one night. Suddenly all their middle-class assumptions and their satisfaction with their busy happy lives are shattered as they discover their daughter’s real life is nothing like they thought. Shemilt asks: ‘Do you really know your own daughter?’


Daughter by Jane Shemilt

Claire North talks about the temptations of being a 'kalachakra'.

Take the near-perfect vehicle that is the movie Groundhog Day, add a supercharger, after-burners and on-board super-computer, and you’ll get some idea of what a fabulous creation this novel is. Writer Claire North – a pseudonym shielding the identity of an acclaimed and published British author – has created in Harry August a character capable of endless re-birth and regeneration. He makes even Dr Who seem rather dull and predictable.

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

Daisy Goodwin talks about the evidence she uncovered during the research for her novel The Fortune Hunter.

Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to… well, not deceive, exactly – but Daisy Goodwin’s characters certainly know how to dance a complicated gavotte of love, lust and power. A historical romance that strikes a powerful chord today. Timeless, tantalising and ultimately, hugely satisfying. A terrific novel.


The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin

Andy Weir discusses his research into surviving on Mars for his novel The Martian.

Writer Andy Weir is an astronaut manqué. He’s always wanted to go into space; explore other worlds… denied that chance, he’s done it anyway, in his imagination. And what a voyage; what a journey he takes us on. A man stranded on the surface of Mars with, at best, 31 days left to live. Unless… an ingenious space disaster story. We were utterly gripped.

The Martian by Andy Weir

The Death in the Marshalsea author Antonia Hodgson talks about her process for researching her novel.

There are political prisons, there are criminal prisons… and once upon a time, there were debtors’ prisons. Antonia Hodgson has placed her story in one of the most notorious debtors’ prisons of them all: the appalling Marshalsea, in 18th century Southwark. The Devil in the Marshalsea is a savage, thrilling, and absorbing read with a timeless moral. Don’t get into debt.

The Devil In Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson

Rick Stein talks about using senses to highlight events in his writing.

An utterly absorbing personal memoir, this, one of the most sensitively-written and honest that either of us can remember reading. Rick Stein comes across as a wonderfully human, complex and emotional man. His description of his childhood in rural Oxfordshire and deepest Cornwall, and his days as a public schoolboy, are riveting. As for the descriptions of food – don’t read this in bed late at night. You’ll be running down to the kitchen for midnight snacks.

Under A Mackerel Sky by Rick Stein

Calling all book lovers, The Richard and Judy Book Club has a new home! Visit whsmith.co.uk/richardandjudy for all the latest recommendations, author interviews and thoughts from other readers. 

The Book Club announces a new set of books regularly throughout the year. Each list is compiled after going through a rigorous selection process, the available titles are whittled down to a longlist which Richard and Judy (alongside a group of book industry experts) read before settling on a final selection of books that they think you will love as much as they do.

Richard and Judy will be providing their own reviews of every book in the list, giving an insight into why the books were chosen. They will also be interviewing authors to discuss the books and the videos will all be available at the Book Club's new home.


The Devil In Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson

Richard & Judy Book Club