In this episode of Tom’s Book Club, Lucy Steeds discusses her debut novel The Artist, winner of both the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2025 and Waterstones Book of the Year 2025.

Set in Provence in 1920, The Artist follows Ettie, a young woman living in the shadow of her uncle, the celebrated painter Edouard Tartuffe. When an ambitious journalist arrives at the isolated farmhouse hoping to interview the elusive artist, long-buried secrets begin to surface over the course of one sweltering summer.

In this conversation, Lucy Steeds talks about writing from dual perspectives, capturing the sensory atmosphere of 1920s France, and how synesthesia shaped the novel’s vivid descriptions and emotional texture. The episode also explores creativity, power, and the tension between artistic genius and those forced to support it from the margins.

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In this episode of Tom’s Book Club, Liz Moore discusses her gripping novel The God of the Woods, shortlisted for the 2026 British Book Awards in the Crime & Thriller category.

Set in a remote American summer camp, the novel begins with the disappearance of a teenage girl — fourteen years after her brother vanished in the same wilderness. As the search unfolds, long-buried secrets surrounding the powerful Van Laar family begin to surface, raising questions about what really happened, and who might be responsible.

In this conversation, Liz Moore explores the origins of the novel, her approach to writing across multiple timelines and perspectives, and the challenges of inhabiting such a wide cast of characters. She also discusses research, character creation, and the real-life influences behind the story.

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In this episode of Tom’s Book Club, Lily King discusses her novel Heart the Lover, now shortlisted for the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction.

The novel follows a writer whose intense friendship with two magnetic figures in her youth continues to shape her life years later. Moving across time, Heart the Lover explores love in its many forms and the lasting impact of the choices we make. In this conversation, Lily King talks about the origins of the novel, its distinctive structure, and being surprised by readers reactions.

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