This week as her special guest from the arts Ruth Copland is pleased to be interviewing best-selling British writer Jo Baker. If you enjoy the interview, you can meet Jo in person on May 26th at 7 PM at Bookshop Santa Cruz where she is appearing as part of her American book tour.
Born in Lancashire in Britain, Jo Baker studied English Literature at Oxford University, then went on to study writing at Queen’s University, Belfast, eventually achieving a PhD on the work of the Anglo-Irish writer Elizabeth Bowen. Jo’s first book Offcomer was published in 2002 and she has gone on to publish five other novels – The Undertow, The Telling, The Mermaid’s Child, Longbourn and her latest book A Country Road, A Tree. Jo has also written for BBC Radio 4, and her short stories have been included in a number of anthologies.
Jo Baker’s book Longbourn, a reimagining of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice from the servants’ perspective, was hailed by critics as brilliant, absorbing, moving and ingenious and is a national best-seller, A New York Times Book Review Notable Book, a Seattle Times Best Title, a Christian Science Monitor Best Fiction Book, a Miami Herald Favorite Book, and a Kirkus Best Book of the Year. Longbourn is also in development as a feature film. Jo Baker’s considerable flare for historical detail and nuance showcased so effectively in Longbourn are evident again in her new book, A Country Road, A Tree, where she reimagines the Nobel Prize-winning Irish writer Samuel Beckett’s involvement with the French Resistance during WWII, and his struggle to find meaning in the seeming futility of life, and value in the written word. In A Country Road, A Tree, (the title of which references a stage direction from Beckett’s play Waiting For Godot) Jo Baker explores the military experiences that ultimately contributed to giving Beckett one of the most powerful voices in the 20th century.
Tune in Saturday 8-9 PM to find out more about the life and art of Jo Baker. For more info and to hear previous shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
