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Essays identifying a small, underappreciated aspect of a famous artistic work. In this episode, children's novelist Elle McNicoll discusses a line of dialogue in You've Got Mail.

It’s in the minutiae of masterpieces that we feel their thrill and power.

In this series of The Essay, five leading cultural voices choose a great work of art and talk about a small, underappreciated aspect of the piece that carries great meaning for them.

For this edition, the children's novelist and screenwriter Elle McNicoll (A Kind of Spark, Like a Charm) describes the inspiration she has taken from a single line of dialogue in Nora Ephron's much loved romantic comedy 'You've Got Mail', starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. Elle describes growing up with Ephron's film collection in the house and gaining a love of New York from 'Nora'. She also remembers how she connected to Ryan's character Kathleen - as a bookseller and advocate for children's literature - through one line spoken in a book store scene.

Producer: Sam Peach

Available now

14 minutes

Last on

Mon 25 Sep 2023 22:45

Music Played

  • Jean Sibelius

    Varen flyktar hastigt [Spring is flying], Op.13 no.4

    Singer: Karita Mattila. Orchestra: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sakari Oramo.
    • Grieg/Sibelius: Songs: Karita Mattila.
    • Warner.
    • 5.

Broadcast

  • Mon 25 Sep 2023 22:45

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