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1: The Book on the Train

When Orwell-obsessive Bethany finds a rare copy of 1984 on the tube, she finds herself embarking on a literary trail that takes her to the remote island where the book was written.

A sparkling new literary whodunnit from the acclaimed author William Boyd, set on the remote Scottish Isle of Jura.

When Orwell obsessive Bethany Mellmoth finds herself in possession of a rare copy of 1984, so begins a literary trail that will take her to the remote Scottish island where the book was written. On Jura Bethany, in the seemingly genteel company of an antiquarian bookseller, she takes on the role of amateur sleuth, as she faces skulduggery and scams, and even threats to her own life...

Today: when a man drops a book on the tube, George Orwell-obsessive Bethany Mellmoth decides it's fate when she sees it's a rare copy of 1984. But what should she do with it?

Writer: William Boyd, is one of the UK's most acclaimed writers. He is the author of 17 novels, including A Good Man in Africa, winner of the Whitbread Literary Award and the Somerset Maugham Award; An Ice Cream War, winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and shortlisted for the Booker prize; Any Human Heart, winner of the Prix Jean Monnet; and Restless, winner of the Costa Novel of the Year.
Reader: Ruth Everett
Producer: Justine Willett

Release date:

14 minutes

On radio

Next Monday 22:45

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Broadcast

  • Next Monday 22:45