logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2013
52m 58s

Jhumpa Lahiri

Bbc World Service
About this episode

This month a chance to hear Pulitzer Prize winning Indian American writer Jhumpa Lahiri, whose new novel The Lowland has just been shortlisted for the British Man Booker Prize.

With presenter Harriett Gilbert and a studio full of readers Lahiri talks about her acclaimed short story collection Unaccustomed Earth, whose eight tales consider the lives of Indian American characters and how they deal with their mixed cultural environment.

Beginning in America, and spilling back over memories and generations to India, the book explores how family life and relationships are affected by the uprootings and resettlings of the Bengali immigrant experience.

Picture: Jhumpa Lahiri. Credit: Marco Delogu.

Up next
Jan 1
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni - The Palace of Illusions
Harriett Gilbert welcomes bestselling author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni into the World Book Club studio to discuss her internationally acclaimed novel, The Palace of Illusions.A luminous reimagining of the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharat, The Palace of Illusions traces the li ... Show More
1h 7m
Dec 1
Philippa Gregory: The Other Boleyn Girl
Harriett Gilbert welcomes bestselling author Philippa Gregory into the World Book Club studio to discuss her celebrated historical novel, The Other Boleyn Girl.This novel, about to celebrate its 25th anniversary, is a vivid portrayal of ambition, love, and betrayal in the Tudor C ... Show More
55m 8s
Nov 1
Oyinkan Braithwaite - My Sister, The Serial Killer
Harriett Gilbert welcomes Nigerian author Oyinkan Braithwaite into the World Book Club studio to discuss her internationally bestselling debut, My Sister, the Serial Killer — a darkly comic thriller that has captivated readers around the globe.This is the story of two sisters, Ko ... Show More
50m 40s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2021
The British Academy Book Prize 2021
Racial injustice in USA; ghost towns in post-industrial Scotland; how maritime history looks from the viewpoint of Aboriginal Australians and Parsis, Mauritians and Malays; the roots of violence that has plagued postcolonial society. These are topics covered in the books shortlis ... Show More
45m 2s
Oct 2019
Joy Harjo: An American Sunrise
<p>The first Native American to be named United States Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo discusses her tumultuous life, her career as an award-winning poet and her newest book of poetry, “An American Sunrise.” Joy also talks about reparations, universal connection, her native ancestors an ... Show More
40m 27s
Dec 2018
Ayana Mathis: “The Twelve Tribes of Hattie”
<p>New York Times best-selling author Ayana Mathis discusses her sweeping debut novel, “The Twelve Tribes of Hattie.” The book tells the story of the children of the Great Migration through the trials of one indomitable heroine, Hattie Shepherd, and her unforgettable family. Ayan ... Show More
29m 49s
Feb 2022
The Book of Baraka
“When I become mayor, we become mayor.” Ras Baraka’s famous words speak to exactly who he is as a leader - a fiercely loyal member of his community. In this innovative and ground-breaking Audible Original, hear how Baraka - the mayor of Newark, New Jersey - grew from spoken-word ... Show More
1h 43m
Dec 2018
Samira Ahmed on Laura Ingalls Wilder
<p>In the summer of 2018, the name of Laura Ingalls Wilder was erased from a children's literary medal set up in her honour six decades ago. </p><p>Readers of the 'Little House on the Prairie' series of books were widely perplexed, but the original American pioneer girl now finds ... Show More
30m 4s
Sep 2023
Leïla Slimani
French Moroccan author Leïla Slimani won critical acclaim and a reputation as an author of bold & brutal fiction with her first two novels. Adele is about a bourgeoise Parisian wife and mother who lives a sexually promiscuous secret life. In Lullaby, a nanny kills the children sh ... Show More
43m 49s
Nov 2020
David Mitchell, novelist
David Mitchell has published eight novels, two of which – number9dream and Cloud Atlas – have been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. He has also translated two books on autism from Japanese, working with his Japanese wife: their son is on the autistic spectrum. While his work als ... Show More
36m 58s
Jul 2023
Breaking Out: An Indian Woman's American Journey
Padma Desai grew up in the 1930s in the provincial world of Surat, India, where she had a sheltered and strict upbringing in a traditional Gujarati Anavil Brahmin family. Her academic brilliance won her a scholarship to Bombay University, where the first heady taste of freedom in ... Show More
15m 42s