The latest edition of The Thursday Book Club was broadcast on 19th June 2025 at 2pm on Phonic FM. Joining host Jonathan Posner were Angie Wooldridge and Cathie Hartigan. Click the names to find out more about them, and use the audio bar below to listen to the full show.
We reviewed The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to The Wastelands by Sarah Brooks.
A woman on the platform with a borrowed name.
A disgraced naturalist determined to discover miracles.
A child with a dangerous secret.
Welcome aboard The Great Trans-Siberian Express.
It is the 19th Century and the world is awash with marvels. But there is nothing so marvellous and terrible as the Wastelands: a vast terrain that lies between Russia and China.
Nothing touches this deadly wilderness except the Great Trans-Siberian Express: an impenetrable train built to carry precious cargo across continents, but which now also transports anyone willing to cross the irresistible Wastelands.
The train is never short of travellers. After all, the train is completely safe.
Except . . . something happened on the last journey. No can remember exactly what, not even Weiwei, the famous ‘child of the train’ who was born on the Express.
The Trans-Siberia Company insist everything has been fixed. But the old rules are changing at a remarkable speed, and as secrets and stories of this curious cast of characters begin to unravel, something uncontrollable appears to be breaking in . . .
This month the second hour, was given over to a new presenter called Cathy Dodd. So do give her your support and keep listening after The Thursday Book Club finishes!
Listen to both parts of the show in full here:
The next show is at 2pm on the 17th July 2025.
NEWS
Jonathan met author Jill McRae-Spencer at a recent South Hams Author day in Ivybridge. Jill told him about her book What Kathleen Did:
It is 1929 and 18-year-old Kathleen, from a middle-class London family, travels to Devon with her friend Alice. There she meets Jim Wilcox, a tenant farmer with traditional views on marriage, and Robert Neville, heir to Alston Manor.
Kathleen, representing the modern woman, wants more than just marriage – a sentiment reflecting post-war societal changes where women outnumbered men by nearly two million.
Seduced by Jim, Kathleen becomes pregnant, forcing her to marry him and become a farmer’s wife – a life far from her dreams. She is haunted by thoughts of a different future with Robert, who symbolises a happier alternative. As World War II begins, new opportunities arise for for Kathleen, but her path to freedom comes at a significant personal cost.
Available on Amazon.
Karen Hedges, Sidmouth’s amateur astronomer and volunteer at the Norman Lockyer Observatory, says she held a successful book launch at Exeter Central Library, supported by Winstone’s Bookshop, Sidmouth, who sold nearly 20 copies of Karen’s new Stargazing for All at the launch. The book is available from Waterstones, Amazon, and available to order from all good bookshops.
South Gloucestershire based author Ali Bacon has been busy launching her latest historical novel The Absent Heart in Bristol and points north. The Absent Heart is inspired by the letters of Robert Louis Stevenson, and tells the story of Frances Sitwell, Stevenson’s muse and companion to his close friend. The men in her life dominated the literary history of the period, but Ali has unpicked this Victorian love-triangle and gives the intelligent and famously beautiful Sitwell her rightful place. The book is published by Linen Press who this month are also reissuing Ali’s previous historical novel In The Blink of an Eye (inspired by the life of an early Scottish photographer) with a new cover.
Available on Amazon.
The next free Writing at the Edge Webinar is on Thursday 3rd July. It will be Jonathan being interviewed by one of our regular guests on The Thursday Book Club, Jason Mann. The topic is Doing the Business. How to navigate the tricky waters of the publishing industry. Traditional, Self-publishing or something in-between, Hybrid. Which option is best for you? Tune in on the Writing at the Edge YouTube channel at 8pm on Thursday 3rd July.
Here’s the ticket link to book your FREE place.
Also, if you go to the Writing at the Edge YouTube channel, there’s a wealth of other webinars on writing topics.
Kate Rigby tells us she has an eBook up on pre-order. It’s The Little Guide To Pet Peeves – from an Autist’s Perspective, which is coming out June 28th. This was first written as a series of blogs before and during lockdown, and Kate has expanded it in several areas – she says it is a growing and evolving project. Following her unfashionably late ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) and ADHD diagnosis in her sixties, she now realises how pertinent some of this was to the strong dislikes and aversions she and her fellow autists experience. Available to pre-order on Amazon.
Lexie Day tells us that the Chipping Sodbury Book Fair is on 19th July, 10am to 4pm and is in a good cause – raising money for children’s charities. It’s at the Chipping Sodbury Town Hall, and has authors, crafts, a secondhand book sale and more for the whole family! Entry is free. Browse through a wide selection of books from various genres, meet authors, and maybe even discover your new favorite read. Whether you’re a bookworm or just looking for a good read, this event is perfect for all book lovers. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of literature! Book your entry here.
Jonathan mentioned that as part of the South Hams Literary Festival, there was a Writers’ Day on Saturday. There was a drop-in session for writers to get advice, help and inspiration from other writers. It was a great day, with lots of local authors and readers looking for help and advice, which we were all happy to give!
Poole based author Flora McGowan has just re-published a new version of her first novel Material Witness which is part of the Carrie and Keith Mystery series. Set during the summer of 2012 on the English south coast, this light-hearted ghost story follows Carrie as she discovers a passion for internet hopping, and develops an addiction for vintage clothes. Her interest is piqued by a Victorian mourning cloak, and deciding to delve into the background of its former owner, she adds a wedding dress to her collection. However, she feels cheated when the promised photograph of the original bride is missing from the parcel, and she sets out to track down what she sees as her property.
Each Carrie and Keith Mystery book can be read as a standalone story. Material Witness is currently available as an ebook on special offer from Amazon for 77p. There is also a paperback version, and for the first time there is an audio version from Apple books. It’s a ghost story with a mystery!
Becca Rogers’ debut children’s novel, The Girl with Gills, is released by Zephyr books on July 3rd. This is an original, middle grade fantasy debut awash with adventure. A determined heroine and a sinister villain clash to reveal river lore in a watery world of fantastical creatures and colossal challenges.
In a time and place which might be now, people with gills, outcast larkers, live in secret communities.
They have houseboats along the river. Concealing their gills from land lubbers, they scour the mudbanks, trade their finds and live off their wits. Thirteen-year-old Effra has been supporting her brother, Fleet, alone since their beloved grandfather died six months ago.
When merciless Rivermun, a larker gone bad, threatens Fleet, Effra’s quest begins. Rivermun asks for the impossible – he wants to overpower Mother River, to possess the river serpent’s pearl and for age-old debts to be settled. Effra must bargain with the imposing Mother River, dive into the underwater parts of the city, venture deep into the Rat Queen’s lair and confront the terrible river serpent to save not only Fleet, but everything the larkers stand for. Luckily, she is not alone. She befriends a sentient sewer rat and a landlubber girl called Bow, who will help her in her quest.
Becca’s book launch is on the evening of Friday 4th July at Waterstones on Exeter High street. Visit the Waterstones Exeter website events page for (free) tickets and further details, or pre-order on Amazon.
