This week we're delighted to welcome the legendary novelist, playwright, performer, journalist and teacher Esther Freud to You're Booked. Esther is the author of nine novels, her first Hideous Kinky was shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys prize and turned into a hit film starring Kate Winslet. Her latest is the captivating I Couldn't Love You More. We talked to her about the pain of book gifting, the genius of Jean Rhys, the power of poetry and the hilarity of Maria Semple.BOOKSEsther Freud - Hideous KinkyEsther Freud - I Couldn’t Love You MoreElizabeth Jane Howard - Cazalet ChroniclesElizabeth Jane Howard - SlipstreamLaura Ingalls Wilder - Little House in the Big WoodsLaura Ingalls Wilder - Little House on the PrairieTracy Chevalier - Girl With a Pearl EarringJean Rhys - Voyage in the DarkJean Rhys - Wide Sargasso SeaGeorge Orwell - EssaysCharlotte Bronte - Jane EyreNicole Krauss - To Be a ManNicole Krauss - History of LoveSylvia Townsend Warner - English ClimateElizabeth Bowen - Collected StoriesTessa Hadley - Bad DreamsDavid Szalay - TurbulenceLucia Berlin - Manual for Cleaning WomenMhairi McFarlane - Here’s Looking at YouJane Ions - Domestic Bliss and Other DisastersLeo Tolstoy - Anna KareninaJon McGregor - Reservoir 13Andrew Sean Greer - LessEvelyn Waugh - Handful of DustEvelyn Waugh - Vile BodiesNancy Mitford - Pursuit of LoveMaria Semple - Where'd You Go BernadetteLouisa May Alcott - Little WomenLouisa May Alcott - Good WivesMaria Semple - This One is MineBarbara Trapido - Brother of the More Famous JackRobert Louis Stevenson - Jekyll and HydeArmistead Maupin - Days of Anna MadrigalAnn Patchett - State of WonderElizabeth Gilbert - Big MagicAnn Patchett - Dutch HouseAnn Patchett - CommonwealthJay Bernard - SurgeWB Yeats - Collected Poems See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.