Main content

Deborah Meaden and Eliza Carthy

4 Extra Debut. Harriett Gilbert, Deborah Meaden and Eliza Carthy on books by Jonathan Safran Foer, Iain Pears and Bernadine Evaristo. From 2012.

Harriett Gilbert invites Deborah Meaden from Dragons' Den, and folk-singer and songwriter Eliza Carthy to pick their favourite books.

Eliza chooses Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer - a story of a young man who goes to the Ukraine in search of the woman who saved his Grandfather from the Nazis, aided by a blind old man, a randy dog and a very, very bad translator.

Deborah's choice is the historical detective story The Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears, the tale of a young woman, Sarah Blundy, accused of murder set against the backdrop of religious, political and intellectual ferment that surrounded England in the 1600s.

Harriett's choice is the idiosyncratic The Emperor's Babe by Bernardine Evaristo. It's a book written entirely in verse and set in Roman Britain, which tells the story of Zuleika, the feisty and precocious daughter of Sudanese immigrants whose head is turned by the arriving Emperor, Septimus Severus.

Producer: Toby Field

First broadcast on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 in 2012.

Available now

30 minutes

Last on

Tue 4 May 2021 00:30

Broadcasts

  • Tue 6 Mar 2012 16:30
  • Fri 9 Mar 2012 23:00
  • Mon 3 May 2021 18:30
  • Tue 4 May 2021 00:30

Books and Authors Podcast

Books and Authors Podcast

Open Book for author interviews and A Good Read for recommended reads

Listen now to books on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Sounds

Listen now to books on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Sounds

Escape with books & stories

Opening Lines

Opening Lines

John Yorke unpacks the themes behind the stories in Radio 4's weekend afternoon dramas.

Books

Celebrating reading and the 100 novels that have shaped our world.

How many of these 100 Novels have you read?

How many of these 100 Novels have you read?

After a passionate debate, our panel has come up with this surprising literary selection.