91Èȱ¬

“Until the close of the early modern era, Western Europeans on most evenings experienced two major intervals of sleep . . . The initial interval of slumber was usually referred to as ‘first sleep’ . . . The succeeding interval was called ‘second’ or ‘morning’ sleep . . . Both phases lasted roughly the same length of time, with individuals waking some time after midnight before returning to rest.
Roger Ekirch, At Day’s Close: A History of Nighttime."

Father Fairfax, a newly ordained priest has been sent by the Bishop of Exeter to the village of Addicott St George to bury Father Lacy who has recently died. But a mysterious figure appears at the funeral casting doubt on the accidental nature of the priest’s death.

Author Robert Harris, the master of plotting, is best known for his best-selling fiction - The Ghost Writer, An Officer and a Spy, Fatherland, Enigma and Archangel. The Second Sleep is a totally absorbing and truly surprising thriller that takes a "historical futuristic" setting to comment on the present.

Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Reader: Michael Maloney
Producer: Karen Rose

A Sweet Talk production for 91Èȱ¬ Radio 4