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Rose Tremain

Sue Lawley's castaway is novelist Rose Tremain.

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the novelist Rose Tremain. She began writing as a child soon after her father left home. It became a kind of therapy for her and she explains it's something she still turns to, especially in moments of crisis. Recognised for her ability to get right inside the minds of her characters, she offers the reader a view of the world through their eyes. In her book Sacred Country, we become a little girl who believes she's really a boy. In Restoration, we live the life of a 17th-century man. As a writer, she wants her work to feel dangerous, and so after extensive research she likes to forget it; keeping some facts and making others up. It's like playing a game with the reader, she says, a challenge to guess which is fact and which is merely fiction.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Dance Me To The End Of Love by Leonard Cohen
Book: A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
Luxury: Word processor

Available now

40 minutes

Last on

Fri 17 Oct 1997 09:05

Music Played

  • George Gershwin

    Rhapsody in Blue

    Soloist: Joanna MacGregor Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra

    • Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue.
    • Collins Classics.
  • Charles Aznavour

    La Boh猫me

    • Les Grandes Chansons.
    • Trema.
  • Anton铆n Dvo艡谩k

    Cello Concerto in B Minor

    Conductor: Mstislav Rostropovich

    • Dvorak/Cello Concerto.
    • Erato.
  • Nina Simone

    Baltimore

    • Baltimore.
    • Epic.
  • John Dowland

    Lachrimae Antiquae

    Orchestra: Parley Of Instruments

    • Lachrimae.
    • Hyperion.
  • Millie Jackson

    Making The Best Of A Bad Situation

    • Still Caught Up.
    • Southbound.
  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Leonard Cohen

      Dance Me To the End of Love

      • Various Postions.
      • CBS.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Clarinet Concerto in A major

    Orchestra: Chetham Chamber Orchestra

    • Mozart Reflections.
    • Olympia.
  • Book Choice

    • A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking

  • Luxury Choice

    • Word processor

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Sue Lawley
Interviewed Guest Rose Tremain

Broadcasts

  • Sun 12 Oct 1997 12:15
  • Fri 17 Oct 1997 09:05

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