Episodes
| Episode | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | 20150907 | The party assembles.
Sian Thomas reads Tessa Hadley's powerful and haunting novel, a beautifully observed portrait of a family and the change wrought by time across the generations.
Three middle-aged sisters and a brother meet up in their grandparents' old house for three long, hot summer weeks. Under the idyllic surface, there are immediate tensions. Secrets, misunderstandings and passion play out as the characters shift and reappraise and a way of life - bourgeois, literate, ritualised - winds down to its inevitable end.
While the siblings circle each other, and the adolescents approach each other, the children watch and come to their own conclusions.
Tessa Hadley is one of Britain's finest writers, an acute observer of character, time and place and the most published short story writer in the New Yorker in recent years.
Abridged by Sally Marmion
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2015.
Tessa Hadley's exquisite new novel - a story of siblings, secrets and passions. Tessa Hadley's novel, a story of siblings, secrets, misunderstandings and passion. |
| 02 | 20150908 | The children make a discovery and seeing something she shouldn't, leaves Harriet disturbed.
Sian Thomas reads Tessa Hadley's powerful and haunting novel, a beautifully observed portrait of a family and the change wrought by time across the generations.
Three middle-aged sisters and a brother meet up in their grandparents' old house for three long, hot summer weeks. Under the idyllic surface, there are immediate tensions. Secrets, misunderstandings and passion play out as the characters shift and reappraise and a way of life - bourgeois, literate, ritualised - winds down to its inevitable end.
While the siblings circle each other, and the adolescents approach each other, the children watch and come to their own conclusions.
Tessa Hadley is one of Britain's finest writers, an acute observer of character, time and place and the most published short story writer in the New Yorker in recent years.
Abridged by Sally Marmion
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2015.
Tessa Hadley's compelling and witty new novel - a story of siblings, secrets and passions. Tessa Hadley's novel, a story of siblings, secrets, misunderstandings and passion. |
| 03 | 20150909 | Pilar confides in Harriet and Kasim finds the children useful allies in his romantic campaign.
Sian Thomas reads Tessa Hadley's powerful and haunting novel, a beautifully observed portrait of a family and the change wrought by time across the generations.
Three middle-aged sisters and a brother meet up in their grandparents' old house for three long, hot summer weeks. Under the idyllic surface, there are immediate tensions. Secrets, misunderstandings and passion play out as the characters shift and reappraise and a way of life - bourgeois, literate, ritualised - winds down to its inevitable end.
While the siblings circle each other, and the adolescents approach each other, the children watch and come to their own conclusions.
Tessa Hadley is one of Britain's finest writers, an acute observer of character, time and place and the most published short story writer in the New Yorker in recent years.
Abridged by Sally Marmion
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2015.
Tessa Hadley's exquisite and witty new novel - a story of siblings, secrets and passions. Tessa Hadley's novel, a story of siblings, secrets, misunderstandings and passion. |
| 04 | 20150910 | Ivy loses her temper and keeps her secret close and Kasim repays Alice with a joke.
Sian Thomas reads Tessa Hadley's powerful and haunting novel, a beautifully observed portrait of a family and the change wrought by time across the generations.
Three middle-aged sisters and a brother meet up in their grandparents' old house for three long, hot summer weeks. Under the idyllic surface, there are immediate tensions. Secrets, misunderstandings and passion play out as the characters shift and reappraise and a way of life - bourgeois, literate, ritualised - winds down to its inevitable end.
While the siblings circle each other, and the adolescents approach each other, the children watch and come to their own conclusions.
Tessa Hadley is one of Britain's finest writers, an acute observer of character, time and place and the most published short story writer in the New Yorker in recent years.
Abridged by Sally Marmion
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2015.
Tessa Hadley's exquisite and witty new novel - a story of siblings, secrets and passions. Tessa Hadley's novel, a story of siblings, secrets, misunderstandings and passion. |
| 05 | 20150911 | The children observe more strange adult behaviour and Harriet experiences something new.
Sian Thomas reads Tessa Hadley's powerful and haunting novel, a beautifully observed portrait of a family and the change wrought by time across the generations.
Three middle-aged sisters and a brother meet up in their grandparents' old house for three long, hot summer weeks. Under the idyllic surface, there are immediate tensions. Secrets, misunderstandings and passion play out as the characters shift and reappraise and a way of life - bourgeois, literate, ritualised - winds down to its inevitable end.
While the siblings circle each other, and the adolescents approach each other, the children watch and come to their own conclusions.
Tessa Hadley is one of Britain's finest writers, an acute observer of character, time and place and the most published short story writer in the New Yorker in recent years.
Abridged by Sally Marmion
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2015.
Tessa Hadley's exquisite and witty new novel - a story of siblings, secrets and passions. Tessa Hadley's novel, a story of siblings, secrets, misunderstandings and passion. |
| 06 | 20150914 | Today it is 1968 and Jill, mother to Harriet, Roland and Alice, is arrives unexpectedly at her parents home, children in tow.
Sian Thomas reads Tessa Hadley's powerful and haunting new novel, a beautifully observed portrait of a family and the change wrought by time across the generations.
Three middle-aged sisters and a brother meet up in their grandparents' old house for three long, hot summer weeks. Under the idyllic surface, there are immediate tensions. Secrets, misunderstandings and passion play out as the characters shift and reappraise and a way of life - bourgeois, literate, ritualised - winds down to its inevitable end.
While the siblings circle each other, and the adolescents approach each other, the children watch and come to their own conclusions.
Tessa Hadley is one of Britain's finest writers, an acute observer of character, time and place and the most published short story writer in the New Yorker in recent years.
The reader is Sian Thomas
It\u2019s 1968, and a mother arrives unexpectedly at her parents\u2019 home, children in tow. Tessa Hadley's novel, a story of siblings, secrets, misunderstandings and passion. |
| 07 | 20150915 | Today, a moment's indiscretion or time for a new direction - the past influences the present as
Three middle-aged sisters and a brother meet up in their grandparents' old house for three long, hot summer weeks. Under the idyllic surface, there are immediate tensions. Secrets, misunderstandings and passion play out as the characters shift and reappraise and a way of life - bourgeois, literate, ritualised - winds down to its inevitable end.
While the siblings circle each other, and the adolescents approach each other, the children watch and come to their own conclusions.
Tessa Hadley is one of Britain's finest writers, an acute observer of character, time and place and the most published short story writer in the New Yorker in recent years.
The reader is Sian Thomas
A moment's indiscretion or time for a new direction? The past influences the present. Tessa Hadley's novel, a story of siblings, secrets, misunderstandings and passion. |
| 08 | 20150916 | Today we return to the present as romance blooms, under the childrens' watchful eyes, and the stakes are rising. Sian Thomas reads Tessa Hadley's powerful and haunting new novel, a beautifully observed portrait of a family and the change wrought by time across the generations.
Three middle-aged sisters and a brother meet up in their grandparents' old house for three long, hot summer weeks. Under the idyllic surface, there are immediate tensions. Secrets, misunderstandings and passion play out as the characters shift and reappraise and a way of life - bourgeois, literate, ritualised - winds down to its inevitable end.
While the siblings circle each other, and the adolescents approach each other, the children watch and come to their own conclusions.
Tessa Hadley is one of Britain's finest writers, an acute observer of character, time and place and the most published short story writer in the New Yorker in recent years.
The reader is Sian Thomas
Tessa Hadley's witty and wry new novel - a story of siblings, secrets and passions. Tessa Hadley's novel, a story of siblings, secrets, misunderstandings and passion. |
| 09 | 20150917 | Today: Passions boil over with disasterous consequences as Sian Thomas reads Tessa Hadley's powerful and haunting new novel, a beautifully observed portrait of a family and the change wrought by time across the generations.
Three middle-aged sisters and a brother meet up in their grandparents' old house for three long, hot summer weeks. Under the idyllic surface, there are immediate tensions. Secrets, misunderstandings and passion play out as the characters shift and reappraise and a way of life - bourgeois, literate, ritualised - winds down to its inevitable end.
While the siblings circle each other, and the adolescents approach each other, the children watch and come to their own conclusions.
Tessa Hadley is one of Britain's finest writers, an acute observer of character, time and place and the most published short story writer in the New Yorker in recent years.
The reader is Sian Thomas
Tessa Hadley's compelling new novel - a story of siblings, secrets and passions. Tessa Hadley's novel, a story of siblings, secrets, misunderstandings and passion. |
| 10 | 20150918 | Today Finding the lost and living without love as Sian Thomas reads the final, tender part of Tessa Hadley's new novel, a beautifully observed portrait of a family and the change wrought by time across the generations.
Three middle-aged sisters and a brother meet up in their grandparents' old house for three long, hot summer weeks. Under the idyllic surface, there are immediate tensions. Secrets, misunderstandings and passion play out as the characters shift and reappraise and a way of life - bourgeois, literate, ritualised - winds down to its inevitable end.
While the siblings circle each other, and the adolescents approach each other, the children watch and come to their own conclusions.
Tessa Hadley is one of Britain's finest writers, an acute observer of character, time and place and the most published short story writer in the New Yorker in recent years.
The reader is Sian Thomas
Tessa Hadley's compelling new novel - a story of siblings, secrets and passions. Tessa Hadley's novel, a story of siblings, secrets, misunderstandings and passion. |