Episode 98: Sarah Marsh (A Sign Of Her Own)
The Worm Hole Podcast
Charlie and Sarah Marsh (A Sign Of Her Own) discuss the lesser-known aspect of Alexander Bell's work - teaching deaf children to speak - in terms of both the real history and the fictionalised character she created in order to explore the events. This includes snippets about the manufactured rivalry between the two inventors of the telephone; Bell's wife, Mabel Hubbard (who was deaf); the Deaf community in London in the late 1800s; and the way Sarah employs language - written, signed, spoken - to excellent effect. A transcript of this episode is available on . Reuben Conrad's 1979 book is...
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Episode 97: Natasha Solomons (Fair Rosaline)
The Worm Hole Podcast
Charlie and Natasha Solomons (Fair Rosaline) discuss Natasha's interpretation of Romeo and Juliet, told from the perspective of Rosaline, wherein Romeo is a groomer and Juliet must be saved from him. We discuss as well Natasha's stylistic choices for her prose and the changes she made to the original ending. Please note that there is a lot of discussion of sexually predatory behaviour and some explicit language in this episode. Mark Scott's rephrasing of Charles Dibdin's argument can be found in his 1987 publication, Shakespearean Criticism, page 419 Where to find Natasha online || ...
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Episode 96: Lucy Barker (The Other Side Of Mrs Wood)
The Worm Hole Podcast
Charlie and Lucy Barker (The Other Side Of Mrs Wood) discuss Victorian mediums both factual and fictionalised - their work, the spiritualism that led to their popularity, the social circles, the rivalry, the rumours of fraud, and the women's roles as early grief counselors. We also talk about the early days of the Suffrage movement and various aspects of the book's ending. Please note there is a very mild swear word in this episode. Where to find Lucy online || || Where to find Charlie online || || Discussions 01:50 The real mediums who inspired the book: Agnes Guppy and Florence...
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Episode 95: Jennifer Saint (Atalanta)
The Worm Hole Podcast
Charlie and Jennifer Saint (Atalanta) discuss the forgotten story of the female member of the Argonauts - Jennifer's use of and changes to the various versions of the mythological story, including her usage of motherhood as a theme, Homer's thoughts on his women characters, the assault of Callisto, and the fact that Jason isn't much of a hero. Please note there are mentions of sexual assault in this episode. Episode 60 of this podcast is my interview with Jennifer about Elektra Cicero said, in the Tusculan Disputations, Book I, On The Contempt Of Death, section XXXIX: "If a child dies...
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Episode 94: Elizabeth Fremantle (Disobedient)
The Worm Hole Podcast
Charlie and Elizabeth Fremantle (Disobedient) discuss the formative life, and Elizabeth's fictionalisation, of Artemisia Gentileschi, a woman painter from the 17th century. Please note that there are many mentions of rape in this episode, and there is also a mention of animal death. The previous episodes with Elizabeth are episode 7 and episode 70 Where to find Elizabeth online || || || Where to find Charlie online || || Discussions 01:18 Why Artemisia, and the general inspiration for the book 04:40 Elizabeth talks about Artemisia's work in general, as well as her success in her...
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Episode 93: Kristy Woodson Harvey (The Summer Of Songbirds)
The Worm Hole Podcast
Charlie and Kristy Woodson Harvey (The Summer Of Songbirds) discuss whether we should like her character, Lanier (who stops her best friend and brother being together); the various plot threads she left out of the book (including alternative endings); and US summer camps (both Kristy's experiences, and the effect of the pandemic lockdowns). We also spend a good amount of time discussing the pre-actor's-strike announcement of an adaptation of Kristy's Peachtree Bluff series and her next two books. Where to find Kristy online || || || Where to find Charlie online || || Discussions...
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Episode 92: Maggie Brookes (Acts Of Love And War)
The Worm Hole Podcast
Charlie and Maggie Brookes (Acts Of Love And War) discuss the small group of British Quakers who went to aid refugees during the Spanish Civil War, the way the war tore families apart as people chose different sides, and why she ended her romantic thread differently than might be expected. All referenced media in this episode: Francesca Wilson's In The Margins Of Chaos Maggie Brookes' Acts Of Love And War Maggie Brookes' The Prisoner's Wife Where to find Maggie online || || Where to find Charlie online || || Discussions 01:53 The initial inspiration: Professor Farah Mendlesohn's PhD on...
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Episode 91: Stacey Thomas (The Revels)
The Worm Hole Podcast
Charlie and Stacey Thomas (The Revels) discuss English Civil War era witch hunting which includes the methods, the propaganda, and the awful theatre of it all. We also discuss Stacey's inclusion of actual witches in her narrative, and Stacey's recommendations of Wolf Hall and A Little Life. I spoke to Amita Parikh in episode 72 Where to find Stacey online || || Where to find Charlie online || || Discussions 01:20 What made you want to tell this story of a man who is a witch, and his role in the judgement of witches? 02:23 Stacey's interest in James I and his favouritism of...
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Episode 90: Celina Baljeet Basra (Happy)
The Worm Hole Podcast
Charlie and Celina Baljeet Basra (Happy) discuss the experiences undocumented migrants to Western Europe face, French film director Jean Luc Goddard's seminal film Bande À Part, Indian talkshow Koffee With Karan, and Celina's particular usage of Umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh. There are no clips of the discussed Koffee With Karan episode on YouTube, but if you've the right channel, it is from 7th November 2010 Where to find Celina online || || Where to find Charlie online || || Discussions 01:48 Why Celina wanted to tell this story: inspiration from a distant relatives' migration...
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Episode 89: Rachel Abbott (Don't Look Away)
The Worm Hole Podcast
Charlie and Rachel Abbott (Don't Look Away) discuss young carers and the guilt they can feel, trafficking in Cornwall - both fact and fiction - and having her series' policewoman staying in the background of the story rather than take the spotlight. (We talk about that a couple of times, I loved it!) Please note that there are mentions of suicide in this episode. Where to find Rachel online || || || Where to find Charlie online || || Discussions 01:40 The inspiration for Nancy and Lola's story 03:15 Nancy's feeling of guilt as a young carer who failed to save her mother 06:23 The...
info_outlineCharlie and Rachel Abbott (Don't Look Away) discuss young carers and the guilt they can feel, trafficking in Cornwall - both fact and fiction - and having her series' policewoman staying in the background of the story rather than take the spotlight. (We talk about that a couple of times, I loved it!)
Please note that there are mentions of suicide in this episode.
And So It Begins
Stranger Child
Come A Little Closer
Sleep Tight
About the trafficking at Newlyn Harbour in late 2019
Where to find Rachel online
Website || Twitter || Facebook || Instagram
Where to find Charlie online
Website || Twitter || Instagram
Discussions
01:40 The inspiration for Nancy and Lola's story
03:15 Nancy's feeling of guilt as a young carer who failed to save her mother
06:23 The way Rachel really fleshes out the non-police characters in her thriller
11:05 How long Lola will be in prison
13:48 Research Rachel does in terms of the police
16:55 How important is policewomen Stephanie (the linking factor of the books) compared to Nancy (one of this book's victims)?
20:18 Stephanie is written in the third person and Nancy is in the first person...
22:20 Why set the book in Cornwall, and why create a fictional village in Cornwall
25:36 The trafficking in the book and real situations
29:34 How Rachel goes from one plot to many - the expansion
33:15 How Rachel uses technology in her books as opposed to finding tech makes things too easy
35:03 What's next for Stephanie King, book 4 in the series?
41:26 Was there anyone that Rachel's editing agent didn't like, or did really like?
43:26 Rachel's current work on her next Tom Douglas book
Photo credit: Andrew Crowley.