OurShelves with special guest Monica Ali

OurShelves: A special Christmas episode with Monica Ali

OurShelves celebrates the end of Season 4 with the beloved Monica Ali, a fellow of Royal Society of Literature, Patron of the Hopscotch Women’s Centre, and bestselling author of Brick Lane and the upcoming Love Marriage, her wonderful, complex and optimistic book about the entangled lives of two very different families – which kept Lucy Scholes up late at night turning the pages. She asks Monica how she gestated this book for ten years, how she made her less likeable characters empathic and how listening to Esther Perel’s sex and relationship therapy inspired her to change their narratives.

Click here to listen.

On the nightstand – books that are currently on your bedside table

Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen

Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor

On your mind – a recent article, podcast, film, series or song

Esther Perel’s podcast, Where Shall We Begin

On the shelf – one book that made you think about feminism in a new way

Minor Feelings by Cathy Hong Park

On the pedestal – tell us about one person (woman or non-binary) you admire

Benaifer Bhandari, CEO of Hopscotch Women’s Centre

Find out more about Monica Ali’s writing at www.monicaali.com