Nothing is so beautiful as Spring –
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;
Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;
The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush
The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush
With richness; the racing lambs too have fair their fling.
What is all this juice and all this joy?
A strain of the earth’s sweet being in the beginning
In Eden garden. – Have, get, before it cloy,
Before it cloud, Christ, lord, and sour with sinning,
Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy,
Most, O maid’s child, thy choice and worthy the winning.
- ‘Spring’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins
'Women in a Garden' by Claude Monet, 1866-1867
Three of the world’s finest indulgences are warm spring days, rich chocolate, and good writing. The sun is beaming down on fields filled with colourful blooms and leaping lambs and the Easter Rabbit is on his way with his cocoa laden basket. So the only thing that is missing is the fine literature to make this weekend a complete success.
Don’t worry if you don’t have any good books immediately to hand though as Susan will be providing some choice reading recommendations this Easter Sunday at 7am. Over the past year ‘Talking Books’ has been lucky enough to feature some of the world’s greatest authors on our show. We have also had the good fortune to talk to leading experts about many history's most important writers.
Join Susan this Sunday as she tucks into her Easter eggs and takes a look back at some of the best bits of ‘Talking Books’ between mouthfuls of chocolate. With such a variety to choose from putting together the show for this Easter was a difficult task. With Easter and chocolate on the mind ‘Talking Books’ decided this Sunday’s show should reflect a fine bar of rich cocoa.
Listen in as Susan revisits her intimate chat with author and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg about his book ‘Grace and Mary’, the lives of his mother and grandmother, and his own life in the shadow of these women. Journey through the 20th century as Susan revisits her discussion with Professor Robert Colls about the life and legacy of George Orwell and his book, ‘George Orwell: English Rebel’. Then delve into the extraordinary and divine found in everyday life as Susan talks with poet and author Colm Tóibín about his life and work, books, the arts and music, and his sense of faith.
