Tea or Books? #121: Should Books Have A Message? and Two Jane Gardam Novels


Jane Gardam and messages in books – welcome to episode 121!

In the first half of the episode, Rachel and I discuss whether or not we think books should have a message. In the second half we pit two Jane Gardam novels against each other: Old Filth and the same story from another angle, The Man in the Wooden Hat.

For those looking for Rachel’s new blog, you can find it and subscribe at Substack.

Do get in touch at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com with any suggestions for topics, or questions for the middle section. You can support the podcast at Patreon, and we also really appreciate your reviews and ratings.

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson
A Helping Hand by Celia Dale
Sheep’s Clothing by Celia Dale
Margaret Laurence
Road Ends by Mary Lawson
Brian Moore
As You Like It by William Shakespeare
Love and Salt Water by Ethel Wilson
The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro
An End to Running by Lynne Reid Banks
The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks
The Double Heart by Lettice Cooper
The New House by Lettice Cooper
National Provincial by Lettice Cooper
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell
An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman
Jodi Picoult
Passing Go by Libby Purves
Holy Deadlock by A.P. Herbert
Palliser series by Anthony Trollope
The Warden by Anthony Trollope
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Hard Times by Charles Dickens
Jane Austen
Hostages to Fortune by Elizabeth Cambridge
Ian McEwan
Middle England by Jonathan Coe
Lady Audley’s Secret by M.E. Braddon
Wilkie Collins
Agatha Christie
Dorothy L. Sayers
‘The Case of Miss Dorothy Sayers’ by Q.D. Leavis
Tarzan series by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Ethel M. Dell
Last Friends by Jane Gardam
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
Barbara Pym
God on the Rocks by Jane Gardam
A Long Way From Verona by Jane Gardam
Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson