Whitcoulls Recommends: Adam & Eve and Inter Alia

Adam & Eve by Jeffrey Archer. Sadly, this is his last work of fiction but is a great way to end an extraordinary career. Many readers will recall Kane & Abel which is considered by many to be amongst his finest work - and lovers of that will love this one. It begins on Armistice Day, 1918, when two very different children are born. One is the daughter of an Earl, the other the son of a shepherd who works on the Earl's estate. Despite their different circumstances they form an extraordinary bond and on a September night in 1940 as Hitler prepares to invade Britain, their actions will change his mind.

Inter Alia by Suzie Miller. She wrote a wonderful play, and novel, called Prima Facie which was a legal story as is this. Jessica is a judge in London. Her husband resents that she’s been appointed to the bench when he hasn’t, and hey have a teenage son with social issues about whom they worry. They’re thrilled when he’s invited to a party, but things don’t go as planned and in the weeks and months afterwards, Jessica has to juggle the competing pressure of being a mother, an advocate for her child, a wife, a friend and a judge. As with Prima Facie it’s very well done - terrific storytelling with a moral dilemma at its heart.

LISTEN ABOVE