Literary Pursuits

Episode

Title

First
Broadcast

Repeated

Comments

Charles Dickens: Great Expectations

20160110

20170828 (R3)

Sarah Dillon is a literary detective on the hunt for the story behind the story of how great works were written. She begins with Dickens's masterpiece, Great Expectations. Begun in 1860, Sarah asks why Dickens was writing it so fast - he finished it in nine and a half months - and why he famously changed the ending. The answers take her on a journey to Dickens's home in Gads Hill in Kent, the office of his magazine All The Year Round in Covent Garden and on a night-walk around the streets of London, where Dickens drew on the energy of the city as inspiration. Talking to Dickens biographer Michael Slater and scholars Juliet John from Royal Holloway and John Drew from the University of Buckingham, Sarah pieces together how Dickens's most private life is played out in the novel. And she uncovers the fascinating events behind the writing of it - including an urgent necessity for money, an overwhelming passion, and a relationship that goes to the heart of the deepest psychological needs that Dickens had.

Reader - Samuel West.

Sarah Dillon reveals a tale of money and passion behind Dickens's Great Expectations.

Golding's Lord Of The Flies

20190602

Lord Of The Flies' was written when WILLIAM GOLDING was a teacher at Bishop Wordsworth School, in a school exercise book in his spare time between and sometimes during lessons. Having already had three earlier books turned down for publication, this story was inspired by what he knew at first hand about how boys really behaved. The manuscript was only narrowly saved from rejection by rookie Editor Charles Monteith at Faber and Faber. After asking for substantial editorial changes, including cutting a whole section at the start of the novel, and altering the title, the tale of stranded boys descending into savagery on a desert island went on to become a classic. Sarah Dillon goes in search of the story of determined perseverance, compromise and incredible luck behind the publication of novel. All published extracts with permission of Faber and Faber Ltd, all published and unpublished extracts with permission of WILLIAM GOLDING Ltd.

Golding's classic novel was saved from being rejected by Faber by the luckiest of chances.

Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea

20160117

20170402 (R3)

Sarah Dillon is a literary detective, hunting down the story behind the story of the writing of great works. Jean Rhys was the author of four novels in the late 20s and 30s when she disappeared off the literary map and was presumed dead. She spectacularly re-appeared with the publication of Wide Sargasso Sea, telling the back story of the first Mrs Rochester from Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. Published in 1966 when the author was in her 70s, the novel became an instant classic.

Sarah Dillon goes on a journey to find out why there was a 27-year gap between novels: she travels to the British Library to look at Rhys's original notebooks; talks to Carole Angier, Jean's biographer; and goes to meet Jean's publisher Diana Athill.

The struggle to bring the book to completion touches on poverty, death and a passionate desire for perfection.

Sarah Dillon explores the arduous composition of Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea.

Literary Pursuits, Rl Stevenson's Jekyll And Hyde

20180225

20190802 (R3)

Sarah Dillon discovers the story behind the writing of R.L. Stevenson's horror classic 'Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.' Written at speed in Bournemouth while Stevenson was recuperating from a serious illness, this is the book that finally made his name and fortune. He later said it was inspired by a dream, and his wife, Fanny claims that it was her influence that caused him to burn the first draft and re-write it in three days. But interviews with author and broadcaster Sir Christopher Frayling, biographer Claire Harman, author and journalist Jeremy Hodges and Professor Richard Dury reveal that the myth of the books composition can be challenged. Sarah Dillon discovers there are many other possible influences on the novel, including the death of a friend by alcoholic poisoning; a contemporary investigative journalist report who exposed child prostitution; a real life murderer who Stevenson knew in Edinburgh and a wardrobe with a disturbing history from his childhood bedroom.

Sarah Dillon finds out the story behind the writing of RL Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde.

Literary Pursuits: Em Forster's Maurice

20170709

20180904 (R3)

Forster's gay love story was a forbidden book. Written in 1913, inspired by a touch on the buttocks, 'Maurice' was only published in 1971 after Forster died. Nevertheless, for almost sixty years, it was a secret manuscript, clandestinely circulating among those Forster trusted. They included Lytton Strachey, Leonard Woolf, Siegfried Sassoon and Christopher Isherwood. Isherwood's comments especially prompted Forster to re-write, adding a sex scene and altering the ending. But for years he refused Isherwood's pressure to publish, until finally acquiescing to a posthumous publication, and sending the typescript by trusted couriers from Cambridge to America. Biographer Wendy Moffat talks about how she pieced together the details of this journey, scholar Philip Gardner looks at the manuscript changes and writer Peter Parker discusses Isherwood's influence on the finished novel.

Exploring the long journey to publication of EM Forster's gay love story, Maurice.

Truman Capote: In Cold Blood

20200322

20210803 (R3)

In November 1959 Truman Capote read a newspaper headline: Wealthy Farmer, 3 of Family Slain.

It was a murder in Kansas. The sheriff was quoted as saying it might be the work of a psychopath. And Capote set off to Kansas, believing this was exactly the story he'd been waiting for. Travelling with him was his friend, Harper Lee, soon to win a Pulitzer prize for To Kill a Mockingbird. Together they began conducting rigorous interviews on the impact of this murder. Initially Capote planned an article for the New Yorker magazine, but when the two murderers were caught, Capote realised he had something much bigger on his hands - the non-fiction novel, the very first one he declared, and the book that led to an explosion in true crime.

Tracing his journey is Corin Throsby. She picks her way through Capote's sometimes exaggerated claims to discover a story that remains relevant to this day. Written largely in Verbier in Switzerland, the book came to obsess Capote - he was close to the murderers, friendly, perhaps more. But for his book to succeed, they needed to die. Corin Throsby teaches at the University of Cambridge and is a former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinker.

Contributors include Thomas Fahy, author of Understanding Capote; Brenda Currin who played the murdered Nancy Clutter in the 1967 film of the book; Ed Pilkington of the Guardian; James Linville, formerly of the Paris Review; actor Toby Jones; Ralph Voss, author of the Legacy of In Cold Blood; plus Ebs Burnough and Lawrence Elman who made the 2019 documentary The Capote Tapes.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

How a murder in Kansas prompted Truman Capote to write In Cold Blood.

Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

20160110

20170828 (R3)

Sarah Dillon reveals a tale of money and passion behind Dickens's Great Expectations.

Reader - SAMUEL WEST.

In a new series, Sarah Dillon is a literary detective on the hunt for the story behind the story of how great works were written. She begins with Dickens's masterpiece, Great Expectations.

Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea

20160117

20170402 (R3)

Sarah Dillon is a literary detective, hunting down the story behind the story of the writing of great works. JEAN RHYS was the author of four novels in the late 20s and 30s when she disappeared off the literary map and was presumed dead. She spectacularly re-appeared with the publication of Wide Sargasso Sea, telling the back story of the first Mrs Rochester from CHARLOTTE BRONTE's Jane Eyre. Published in 1966 when the author was in her 70s, the novel became an instant classic.

Sarah Dillon goes on a journey to find out why there was a 27 year gap between novels: she travels to the British Library to look at Rhys' original notebooks; talks to Carole Angier, Jean's biographer; and goes to meet Jean's publisher Diana Athill.

The struggle to bring the book to completion touches on poverty, death and a passionate desire for perfection.

In a new series, Sarah Dillon is a literary detective, hunting down the story behind the story of the writing of great works. JEAN RHYS was the author of four novels in the late 20s and 30s when she disappeared off the literary map and was presumed dead. She spectacularly re-appeared with the publication of Wide Sargasso Sea, telling the back story of the first Mrs Rochester from CHARLOTTE BRONTE's Jane Eyre. Published in 1966 when the author was in her 70s, the novel became an instant classic.

Sarah Dillon explores the arduous composition of JEAN RHYS's Wide Sargasso Sea.

Sarah Dillon goes on a journey to find out why there was a 27 year gap between novels: she travels to the British Library to look at Rhy's original notebooks; talks to Carole Angier, Jean's biographer; and goes to meet Jean's publisher Diana Athill.

Jane Austen, Persuasion

20160529

20170604 (R3)

Sarah Dillon discovers how Jane Austen's last completed novel, 'Persuasion' was written. The novel has sometimes been viewed as Austen's valedictory novel - written while she was suffering with her final illness. But Sarah Dillon uncovers a more complex story: dates of revisions on the manuscripts in the British Library confirm her sister's story that Persuasion was completed almost a year before Austen's death, but it was only published posthumously. By talking to Dr Kathryn Sutherland from St Anne's College, Oxford, Paula Byrne, author of 'The Real Jane Austen, A Life In Small Things' and writer Margaret Drabble, we go behind the scant details of Austen's life and uncover reasons for the delay: her last illness; the possibly personal inspirations for the plot of the novel; the state of her finances; her fascinating creative process; and the radical reaches and determination of her literary ambitions.

Sarah Dillon discovers how JANE AUSTEN's last completed novel, Persuasion, was written.

Jane Austen's Persuasion

20160529

20170604 (R3)

Sarah Dillon discovers how Jane Austen's last completed novel, Persuasion, was written.

James Joyce, Dubliners

20160605

20170829 (R3)

James Joyce went to extraordinary lengths to publish first book, Dubliners. He personally rescued the manuscript from fire, lost a major standoff with his publishers over revisions, orchestrated a press campaign, wrote a despairing letter to the king of England and left Ireland for good. Sarah Dillon recounts the story, investigates the manuscripts and sees how Joyce astonishing literary career nearly fell at the first hurdle.

Sarah Dillon recounts JAMES JOYCE's epic struggle to publish his first book, Dubliners.

JAMES JOYCE went to extraordinary lengths to publish his first book, Dubliners. He personally rescued the manuscript from fire, lost a major standoff with his publishers over revisions, orchestrated a press campaign, wrote a despairing letter to the king of England and left Ireland for good. Sarah Dillon recounts the story, investigates the manuscripts and sees how Joyce's astonishing literary career nearly fell at the first hurdle.

Reader: Damien Molony

Producer: James Cook.

James Joyce's Dubliners

20160605

20170829 (R3)

James Joyce went to extraordinary lengths to publish his first book, Dubliners. He personally rescued the manuscript from fire, lost a major standoff with his publishers over revisions, orchestrated a press campaign, wrote a despairing letter to the king of England and left Ireland for good. Sarah Dillon recounts the story, investigates the manuscripts and sees how Joyce's astonishing literary career nearly fell at the first hurdle.

Reader: Damien Molony

Producer: James Cook.

Sarah Dillon recounts James Joyce's epic struggle to publish his first book, Dubliners.

E M Forster, Maurice

20170709

20180904 (R3)

Exploring the long journey to publication of EM Forster's gay love story Maurice.

Forster's gay love story was a forbidden book. Written in 1913, inspired by a touch on the buttocks, 'Maurice' was only published in 1971 after Forster died. Nevertheless, for almost sixty years, it was a secret manuscript, clandestinely circulating among those Forster trusted. They included Lytton Strachey, LEONARD WOOLF, Siegfried Sassoon and CHRISTOPHER ISHERWOOD. Isherwood's comments especially prompted Forster to re-write, adding a sex scene and altering the ending. But for years he refused Isherwood's pressure to publish, until finally acquiescing to a posthumous publication, and sending the typescript by trusted couriers from Cambridge to America. Biographer Wendy Moffat talks about how she pieced together the details of this journey, scholar Philip Gardner looks at the manuscript changes and writer Peter Parker discusses Isherwood's influence on the finished novel.

Exploring the long journey to publication of EM Forster's gay love story, Maurice.

R L Stevenson, Jekyll And Hyde

20180225

20190802 (R3)

Sarah Dillon discovers the story behind the writing of R.L. Stevenson's horror classic 'Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.' Written at speed in Bournemouth while Stevenson was recuperating from a serious illness, this is the book that finally made his name and fortune. He later said it was inspired by a dream, and his wife, Fanny claims that it was her influence that caused him to burn the first draft and re-write it in three days. But interviews with author and broadcaster Sir CHRISTOPHER FRAYLING, biographer Claire Harman, author and journalist Jeremy Hodges and Professor Richard Dury reveal that the myth of the books composition can be challenged. Sarah Dillon discovers there are many other possible influences on the novel, including the death of a friend by alcoholic poisoning; a contemporary investigative journalist report who exposed child prostitution; a real life murderer who Stevenson knew in Edinburgh and a wardrobe with a disturbing history from his childhood bedroom.

Sarah Dillon finds out the story behind the writing of RL Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde.

Les Miserables

20181230

20200810 (R3)

The story behind the writing of VICTOR HUGO's classic novel is one of adultery, revolution, political intrigue and exile. It was begun in Paris, when Hugo was part of the political and literary establishment, but the revolution of 1848 led to Hugo falling foul of the authorities and he had to flee for his life in disguise. He was reunited with his precious manuscript days later when it was brought to him in Brussels by his long-time mistress Juilette Drouet. Eventually ending up in Guernsey, it was twelve years later that Hugo finally took his manuscript out and finished it. But the events of the intervening years caused Hugo to make huge additions to the manuscript, transforming it from a novel into a masterpiece.

The story behind the writing of VICTOR HUGO's book is one of adultery, intrigue and exile.

Truman Capote, In Cold Blood

20200322

20210803 (R3)

In November 1959 Truman Capote read a newspaper headline: Wealthy Farmer, 3 of Family Slain.

The producer in Bristol is MILES WARDE.

How a murder in Kansas prompted Truman Capote to write In Cold Blood.

Episodes

Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Repeated	Comments
	Charles Dickens: Great Expectations	20160110	20170828 (R3)	Sarah Dillon is a literary detective on the hunt for the story behind the story of how great works were written. She begins with Dickens's masterpiece, Great Expectations. Begun in 1860, Sarah asks why Dickens was writing it so fast - he finished it in nine and a half months - and why he famously changed the ending. The answers take her on a journey to Dickens's home in Gads Hill in Kent, the office of his magazine All The Year Round in Covent Garden and on a night-walk around the streets of London, where Dickens drew on the energy of the city as inspiration. Talking to Dickens biographer Michael Slater and scholars Juliet John from Royal Holloway and John Drew from the University of Buckingham, Sarah pieces together how Dickens's most private life is played out in the novel. And she uncovers the fascinating events behind the writing of it - including an urgent necessity for money, an overwhelming passion, and a relationship that goes to the heart of the deepest psychological needs that Dickens had. Reader - Samuel West. Sarah Dillon reveals a tale of money and passion behind Dickens's Great Expectations.
	Golding's Lord Of The Flies	20190602		Lord Of The Flies' was written when WILLIAM GOLDING was a teacher at Bishop Wordsworth School, in a school exercise book in his spare time between and sometimes during lessons. Having already had three earlier books turned down for publication, this story was inspired by what he knew at first hand about how boys really behaved. The manuscript was only narrowly saved from rejection by rookie Editor Charles Monteith at Faber and Faber. After asking for substantial editorial changes, including cutting a whole section at the start of the novel, and altering the title, the tale of stranded boys descending into savagery on a desert island went on to become a classic. Sarah Dillon goes in search of the story of determined perseverance, compromise and incredible luck behind the publication of novel. All published extracts with permission of Faber and Faber Ltd, all published and unpublished extracts with permission of WILLIAM GOLDING Ltd. Golding's classic novel was saved from being rejected by Faber by the luckiest of chances.
	Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea	20160117	20170402 (R3)	Sarah Dillon is a literary detective, hunting down the story behind the story of the writing of great works. Jean Rhys was the author of four novels in the late 20s and 30s when she disappeared off the literary map and was presumed dead. She spectacularly re-appeared with the publication of Wide Sargasso Sea, telling the back story of the first Mrs Rochester from Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. Published in 1966 when the author was in her 70s, the novel became an instant classic. Sarah Dillon goes on a journey to find out why there was a 27-year gap between novels: she travels to the British Library to look at Rhys's original notebooks; talks to Carole Angier, Jean's biographer; and goes to meet Jean's publisher Diana Athill. The struggle to bring the book to completion touches on poverty, death and a passionate desire for perfection. Sarah Dillon explores the arduous composition of Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea.
	Literary Pursuits, Rl Stevenson's Jekyll And Hyde	20180225	20190802 (R3)	Sarah Dillon discovers the story behind the writing of R.L. Stevenson's horror classic 'Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.' Written at speed in Bournemouth while Stevenson was recuperating from a serious illness, this is the book that finally made his name and fortune. He later said it was inspired by a dream, and his wife, Fanny claims that it was her influence that caused him to burn the first draft and re-write it in three days. But interviews with author and broadcaster Sir Christopher Frayling, biographer Claire Harman, author and journalist Jeremy Hodges and Professor Richard Dury reveal that the myth of the books composition can be challenged. Sarah Dillon discovers there are many other possible influences on the novel, including the death of a friend by alcoholic poisoning; a contemporary investigative journalist report who exposed child prostitution; a real life murderer who Stevenson knew in Edinburgh and a wardrobe with a disturbing history from his childhood bedroom. Sarah Dillon finds out the story behind the writing of RL Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde.
	Literary Pursuits: Em Forster's Maurice	20170709	20180904 (R3)	Forster's gay love story was a forbidden book. Written in 1913, inspired by a touch on the buttocks, 'Maurice' was only published in 1971 after Forster died. Nevertheless, for almost sixty years, it was a secret manuscript, clandestinely circulating among those Forster trusted. They included Lytton Strachey, Leonard Woolf, Siegfried Sassoon and Christopher Isherwood. Isherwood's comments especially prompted Forster to re-write, adding a sex scene and altering the ending. But for years he refused Isherwood's pressure to publish, until finally acquiescing to a posthumous publication, and sending the typescript by trusted couriers from Cambridge to America. Biographer Wendy Moffat talks about how she pieced together the details of this journey, scholar Philip Gardner looks at the manuscript changes and writer Peter Parker discusses Isherwood's influence on the finished novel. Exploring the long journey to publication of EM Forster's gay love story, Maurice.
	Truman Capote: In Cold Blood	20200322	20210803 (R3)	In November 1959 Truman Capote read a newspaper headline: Wealthy Farmer, 3 of Family Slain. It was a murder in Kansas. The sheriff was quoted as saying it might be the work of a psychopath. And Capote set off to Kansas, believing this was exactly the story he'd been waiting for. Travelling with him was his friend, Harper Lee, soon to win a Pulitzer prize for To Kill a Mockingbird. Together they began conducting rigorous interviews on the impact of this murder. Initially Capote planned an article for the New Yorker magazine, but when the two murderers were caught, Capote realised he had something much bigger on his hands - the non-fiction novel, the very first one he declared, and the book that led to an explosion in true crime. Tracing his journey is Corin Throsby. She picks her way through Capote's sometimes exaggerated claims to discover a story that remains relevant to this day. Written largely in Verbier in Switzerland, the book came to obsess Capote - he was close to the murderers, friendly, perhaps more. But for his book to succeed, they needed to die. Corin Throsby teaches at the University of Cambridge and is a former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinker. Contributors include Thomas Fahy, author of Understanding Capote; Brenda Currin who played the murdered Nancy Clutter in the 1967 film of the book; Ed Pilkington of the Guardian; James Linville, formerly of the Paris Review; actor Toby Jones; Ralph Voss, author of the Legacy of In Cold Blood; plus Ebs Burnough and Lawrence Elman who made the 2019 documentary The Capote Tapes. The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde. How a murder in Kansas prompted Truman Capote to write In Cold Blood.
01	Charles Dickens, Great Expectations	20160110	20170828 (R3)	Sarah Dillon reveals a tale of money and passion behind Dickens's Great Expectations. Sarah Dillon is a literary detective on the hunt for the story behind the story of how great works were written. She begins with Dickens's masterpiece, Great Expectations. Begun in 1860, Sarah asks why Dickens was writing it so fast - he finished it in nine and a half months - and why he famously changed the ending. The answers take her on a journey to Dickens's home in Gads Hill in Kent, the office of his magazine All The Year Round in Covent Garden and on a night-walk around the streets of London, where Dickens drew on the energy of the city as inspiration. Talking to Dickens biographer Michael Slater and scholars Juliet John from Royal Holloway and John Drew from the University of Buckingham, Sarah pieces together how Dickens's most private life is played out in the novel. And she uncovers the fascinating events behind the writing of it - including an urgent necessity for money, an overwhelming passion, and a relationship that goes to the heart of the deepest psychological needs that Dickens had. Reader - SAMUEL WEST. In a new series, Sarah Dillon is a literary detective on the hunt for the story behind the story of how great works were written. She begins with Dickens's masterpiece, Great Expectations.
02	Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea	20160117	20170402 (R3)	Sarah Dillon is a literary detective, hunting down the story behind the story of the writing of great works. JEAN RHYS was the author of four novels in the late 20s and 30s when she disappeared off the literary map and was presumed dead. She spectacularly re-appeared with the publication of Wide Sargasso Sea, telling the back story of the first Mrs Rochester from CHARLOTTE BRONTE's Jane Eyre. Published in 1966 when the author was in her 70s, the novel became an instant classic. Sarah Dillon goes on a journey to find out why there was a 27 year gap between novels: she travels to the British Library to look at Rhys' original notebooks; talks to Carole Angier, Jean's biographer; and goes to meet Jean's publisher Diana Athill. The struggle to bring the book to completion touches on poverty, death and a passionate desire for perfection. In a new series, Sarah Dillon is a literary detective, hunting down the story behind the story of the writing of great works. JEAN RHYS was the author of four novels in the late 20s and 30s when she disappeared off the literary map and was presumed dead. She spectacularly re-appeared with the publication of Wide Sargasso Sea, telling the back story of the first Mrs Rochester from CHARLOTTE BRONTE's Jane Eyre. Published in 1966 when the author was in her 70s, the novel became an instant classic. Sarah Dillon explores the arduous composition of JEAN RHYS's Wide Sargasso Sea. Sarah Dillon goes on a journey to find out why there was a 27 year gap between novels: she travels to the British Library to look at Rhy's original notebooks; talks to Carole Angier, Jean's biographer; and goes to meet Jean's publisher Diana Athill.
03	Jane Austen, Persuasion	20160529	20170604 (R3)	Sarah Dillon discovers how Jane Austen's last completed novel, 'Persuasion' was written. The novel has sometimes been viewed as Austen's valedictory novel - written while she was suffering with her final illness. But Sarah Dillon uncovers a more complex story: dates of revisions on the manuscripts in the British Library confirm her sister's story that Persuasion was completed almost a year before Austen's death, but it was only published posthumously. By talking to Dr Kathryn Sutherland from St Anne's College, Oxford, Paula Byrne, author of 'The Real Jane Austen, A Life In Small Things' and writer Margaret Drabble, we go behind the scant details of Austen's life and uncover reasons for the delay: her last illness; the possibly personal inspirations for the plot of the novel; the state of her finances; her fascinating creative process; and the radical reaches and determination of her literary ambitions. Sarah Dillon discovers how JANE AUSTEN's last completed novel, Persuasion, was written.
03	Jane Austen's Persuasion	20160529	20170604 (R3)	Sarah Dillon discovers how Jane Austen's last completed novel, 'Persuasion' was written. The novel has sometimes been viewed as Austen's valedictory novel - written while she was suffering with her final illness. But Sarah Dillon uncovers a more complex story: dates of revisions on the manuscripts in the British Library confirm her sister's story that Persuasion was completed almost a year before Austen's death, but it was only published posthumously. By talking to Dr Kathryn Sutherland from St Anne's College, Oxford, Paula Byrne, author of 'The Real Jane Austen, A Life In Small Things' and writer Margaret Drabble, we go behind the scant details of Austen's life and uncover reasons for the delay: her last illness; the possibly personal inspirations for the plot of the novel; the state of her finances; her fascinating creative process; and the radical reaches and determination of her literary ambitions. Sarah Dillon discovers how Jane Austen's last completed novel, Persuasion, was written.
04	James Joyce, Dubliners	20160605	20170829 (R3)	James Joyce went to extraordinary lengths to publish first book, Dubliners. He personally rescued the manuscript from fire, lost a major standoff with his publishers over revisions, orchestrated a press campaign, wrote a despairing letter to the king of England and left Ireland for good. Sarah Dillon recounts the story, investigates the manuscripts and sees how Joyce astonishing literary career nearly fell at the first hurdle. Sarah Dillon recounts JAMES JOYCE's epic struggle to publish his first book, Dubliners. JAMES JOYCE went to extraordinary lengths to publish his first book, Dubliners. He personally rescued the manuscript from fire, lost a major standoff with his publishers over revisions, orchestrated a press campaign, wrote a despairing letter to the king of England and left Ireland for good. Sarah Dillon recounts the story, investigates the manuscripts and sees how Joyce's astonishing literary career nearly fell at the first hurdle. Reader: Damien Molony Producer: James Cook.
04	James Joyce's Dubliners	20160605	20170829 (R3)	James Joyce went to extraordinary lengths to publish his first book, Dubliners. He personally rescued the manuscript from fire, lost a major standoff with his publishers over revisions, orchestrated a press campaign, wrote a despairing letter to the king of England and left Ireland for good. Sarah Dillon recounts the story, investigates the manuscripts and sees how Joyce's astonishing literary career nearly fell at the first hurdle. Reader: Damien Molony Producer: James Cook. Sarah Dillon recounts James Joyce's epic struggle to publish his first book, Dubliners.
05	E M Forster, Maurice	20170709	20180904 (R3)	Exploring the long journey to publication of EM Forster's gay love story Maurice. Forster's gay love story was a forbidden book. Written in 1913, inspired by a touch on the buttocks, 'Maurice' was only published in 1971 after Forster died. Nevertheless, for almost sixty years, it was a secret manuscript, clandestinely circulating among those Forster trusted. They included Lytton Strachey, LEONARD WOOLF, Siegfried Sassoon and CHRISTOPHER ISHERWOOD. Isherwood's comments especially prompted Forster to re-write, adding a sex scene and altering the ending. But for years he refused Isherwood's pressure to publish, until finally acquiescing to a posthumous publication, and sending the typescript by trusted couriers from Cambridge to America. Biographer Wendy Moffat talks about how she pieced together the details of this journey, scholar Philip Gardner looks at the manuscript changes and writer Peter Parker discusses Isherwood's influence on the finished novel. Exploring the long journey to publication of EM Forster's gay love story, Maurice.
06	R L Stevenson, Jekyll And Hyde	20180225	20190802 (R3)	Sarah Dillon discovers the story behind the writing of R.L. Stevenson's horror classic 'Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.' Written at speed in Bournemouth while Stevenson was recuperating from a serious illness, this is the book that finally made his name and fortune. He later said it was inspired by a dream, and his wife, Fanny claims that it was her influence that caused him to burn the first draft and re-write it in three days. But interviews with author and broadcaster Sir CHRISTOPHER FRAYLING, biographer Claire Harman, author and journalist Jeremy Hodges and Professor Richard Dury reveal that the myth of the books composition can be challenged. Sarah Dillon discovers there are many other possible influences on the novel, including the death of a friend by alcoholic poisoning; a contemporary investigative journalist report who exposed child prostitution; a real life murderer who Stevenson knew in Edinburgh and a wardrobe with a disturbing history from his childhood bedroom. Sarah Dillon finds out the story behind the writing of RL Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde.
07	Les Miserables	20181230	20200810 (R3)	The story behind the writing of VICTOR HUGO's classic novel is one of adultery, revolution, political intrigue and exile. It was begun in Paris, when Hugo was part of the political and literary establishment, but the revolution of 1848 led to Hugo falling foul of the authorities and he had to flee for his life in disguise. He was reunited with his precious manuscript days later when it was brought to him in Brussels by his long-time mistress Juilette Drouet. Eventually ending up in Guernsey, it was twelve years later that Hugo finally took his manuscript out and finished it. But the events of the intervening years caused Hugo to make huge additions to the manuscript, transforming it from a novel into a masterpiece. The story behind the writing of VICTOR HUGO's book is one of adultery, intrigue and exile.
08	Truman Capote, In Cold Blood	20200322	20210803 (R3)	In November 1959 Truman Capote read a newspaper headline: Wealthy Farmer, 3 of Family Slain. It was a murder in Kansas. The sheriff was quoted as saying it might be the work of a psychopath. And Capote set off to Kansas, believing this was exactly the story he'd been waiting for. Travelling with him was his friend, Harper Lee, soon to win a Pulitzer prize for To Kill a Mockingbird. Together they began conducting rigorous interviews on the impact of this murder. Initially Capote planned an article for the New Yorker magazine, but when the two murderers were caught, Capote realised he had something much bigger on his hands - the non-fiction novel, the very first one he declared, and the book that led to an explosion in true crime. Tracing his journey is Corin Throsby. She picks her way through Capote's sometimes exaggerated claims to discover a story that remains relevant to this day. Written largely in Verbier in Switzerland, the book came to obsess Capote - he was close to the murderers, friendly, perhaps more. But for his book to succeed, they needed to die. Corin Throsby teaches at the University of Cambridge and is a former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinker. Contributors include Thomas Fahy, author of Understanding Capote; Brenda Currin who played the murdered Nancy Clutter in the 1967 film of the book; Ed Pilkington of the Guardian; James Linville, formerly of the Paris Review; actor Toby Jones; Ralph Voss, author of the Legacy of In Cold Blood; plus Ebs Burnough and Lawrence Elman who made the 2019 documentary The Capote Tapes. The producer in Bristol is MILES WARDE. How a murder in Kansas prompted Truman Capote to write In Cold Blood.