How Maggie O’Farrell Gives Her Historic Novels Their Own Heartbeat

About this episode

What does it really take to breathe life into a bestseller? To make another time come alive? To place us into a polyphony of perspectives? In this candid conversation, acclaimed author Maggie O’Farrell joins Luke Bateman to unpack her extraordinary life story and highly intuitive creative process. From surviving a life-altering childhood illness at age eight that forced her to re-learn basic motor skills and embrace reading (and re-reading), to inspirations and insights into her most acclaimed works such as Hamnet, Land and The Marriage Portrait , and why Irish culture is uniquely built for storytelling. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.