On Episode 11, our guest is Jimena from Belgravia Books, a London-based independent bookshop which is also the home of Gallic Books, a publisher devoted to bringing the best of French literature to an English-speaking audience. We talked about what she loves most about working in a bookshop, French books to put on your reading list, and the new worlds that translated fiction opens to us.

You can listen to the episode here,

or Spotify, or iTunes,

or wherever else you get your podcasts.

Books Mentioned in this episode:

Unscripted, by Claire Handscombe

The Red Notebook, by Antoine Laurain

Lullaby/The Perfect Nanny, by Leila Slimani

We Need To Talk About Kevin, by Leila Slimani

The Foundling Boy, by Michel Déon

The Foundling’s War, by Michel Déon

Your Father’s Room, by Michel Déon

The Great and the Good, by Michel Déon

La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One, by Philip Pullman

The Shortest History of Germany, by James Hawes

Hot Milk, by Deborah Levy

Black Sugar, by Miguel Bonnefoy, transl. Emily Boyce

Smoking Kills, by Antoine Laurain, transl. Loise Lalaurie Rogers

The President’s Hat, by Antoine Laurain

French Rhapsody, by Antoine Laurain

Tell Me How it Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions, by Valeria Luiselli

Prodigal, by Charles Lambert

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, by Yuval Noah Harari

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari

Brixton Beach, by Roma Tearne

Monsieur Ka, by Vesna Goldsworthy

Meghan: A Hollywood Princess, by Andrew Morton

Wallis in Love: The untold true passion of the Duchess of Windsor, by Andrew Morton

Unthinkable: An Extraordinary Journey Through the World’s Strangest Brains, by Helen Thomson

The Image of You, by Adele Parks

A note on my book links: they usually take you to Amazon, and I get a few pence per sale at no extra cost to you if you click them and buy from there, which will help me make this podcast viable long-term. But better than Amazon, who are, let’s be honest, not the greatest, is Blackwells or Waterstones, or, even better, your local independent bookshop. If you live in the US or elsewhere further afield, you can find UK books at Book Depository (also owned by Amazon) at a good price and with no postage cost, or you can buy them from Amazon US, or, even better, an independent bookshop.)

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For daily news and views from British books and publishing, follow the Brit Lit Blog.

Questions? Comments? Need a book recommendation? Email Claire at [email protected]

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