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Kate Atkinson on Life After Life

Kate Atkinson talks to Mariella Frostrup about her new book Life After Life, we discuss classic and modern Western novels and betting on literary prizes.

Kate Atkinson discuss her latest novel Life After Life with Mariella Frostrup, in which we follow her central character Ursula as she lives her life over and over again, each version altered by one, sometimes small event. During her myriad different lives and deaths Ursula experiences two world wars from both the British and German perspectives, the loss of friends and family as well as the many hardships experienced by that generation and discovers that trying to change the future isn't always as easy as you think.

For many people their first memories of Westerns are from films - John Wayne protecting his land and his gold in The Spoilers, roaming gunfighters in A Fistful of Dollars and Gary Cooper as The Marshall alone against killers bent on revenge in High Noon.
With the dramatization on Radio 4 of two classic Western novels, Hombre by Elmore Leonard and Shane by Jack Schaefer, Open Book explores the Wild West in books old and new with Michael Carlson and novelist Ace Atkins.

People may have the occasional flutter on the Grand National or the Cheltenham races, but what about the Man Booker, the Costa or the Women's Prize for Fiction? It seems many people are now betting on the outcome of our leading literary prizes, but as Graham Sharpe, Media Relations Director of William Hill, who sets their prices for these events explains, picking the winning author can be more difficult than a winning horse.

Available now

28 minutes

Read the Opening Chapter of Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Get ahead with Mariella’s next book The Hired Man by Aminatta Forna

BOOKLIST

Kate AtkinsonÌý


Life After Life – Kate Atkinson

Publisher: Doubleday

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The Western

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The Ranger – Ace Atkins

Publisher: Corsair

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Sergio Leone (Pocket Essentials) – Michael Carlson

Publisher: Pocket Essentials

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Clint Eastwood (Pocket Essentials: Film) – Michael Carlson

Publisher: Pocket Essentials

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The Virginian – Owen Wister

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

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Riders of the Purple Sage – Zane Grey

Publisher: Wilder Publications, Limited

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Last Stand at Saber River – Elmore Leonard

Publisher: Phoenix

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Shane – by Jack Schaefer

Publisher: Bantam USA

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Hombre – Elmore Leonard

Publisher: Phoenix

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True Grit – Charles Portis

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

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Lonesome Dove – Larry Mcmurtry

Publisher: Pan

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Horseman, Pass By – Larry Mcmurtry

Publisher: Orion

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Novels by Daniel Woodrell:

Give Us a Kiss: A Country Noir

Muscle for the Wing: No. 2: A Shade Novel

Under the Bright Lights

The Ones You Do

Publisher: No Exit Press

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Hell at the Breach – Tom Franklin

Publisher: Flamingo

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Broadcasts

  • Sun 17 Mar 2013 16:00
  • Thu 21 Mar 2013 15:30

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