Virginia Woolf's incredible novel Mrs. Dalloway turns 100 this year! Shruti and Neha talk about this book and its themes of perception, inadequacy, memory, illness, and death. They discuss the effect of the past on the characters, the book's imperialist and pro-colonialism project, and the disappearance of the narrator.

Books Mentioned & Shelf Discovery:

On Being Ill by Virginia Woolf

Culture and Imperialism by Edward Said

The Annotated Mrs. Dalloway edited by Merve Emre

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

The Hours by Michael Cunningham

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Neha and Shruti discuss Brooklyn, a historical novel about a young woman who immigrates from Ireland to America in the 1950s, through the themes of family and duty. We discuss the character of Eilis Lacey and her passivity, Tóibín's spare writing style, and the various forces pulling at the characters in this book. We also draw comparisons to Henry James, and share a few thoughts on the movie adaption.

Links:

The Coldest Place on Earth [London Review of Books]

Books Mentioned & Shelf Discovery

The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

Washington Square by Henry James

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

Another Country by James Baldwin

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

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This episode description contains links to Bookshop.org, a website that supports independent bookstores. If you use these links we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

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In this episode we discuss Bangkok Wakes to Rain, a novel of interconnected stories set in Krung Thep (Bangkok) over several decades. We discuss how the idea of time is explored through the story, and how each character encounters displacement in their own way. We then get into a conversation about aging, beauty trends, and the afterlife, before our final Filter the Chai and Shelf Discovery segments.

Sea of Tranquility: wilderness and loneliness - Apple Podcasts | Spotify

Shelf Discovery:

The Overstory by Richard Powers

Human Acts by Han Kang

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak

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Welcome to a new season! Today we’re talking all about cities in literature – what cities represent, what ‘setting as character’ really means, and books we’ve read that really capture the magic of cities. We then share the seven books we’ll be reading this season, along with context and background, and the themes and elements we’ll be paying attention to as we read.

Books Mentioned:

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Bangkok Wakes to Rain by Pitchaya Sudbanthad

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

White Teeth by Zadie Smith

The City We Became by NK Jemison

Such a Long Journey by Rohinton Mistry

The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk

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This episode description contains links to Bookshop.org, a website that supports independent bookstores. If you use these links we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

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In this episode we zoom out and talk about all the books we covered over the past few months, discussing favorites and least favorites, as well as highlighting some themes that emerged, including strong settings and ‘the madwoman’ in literature. We then get into adaptation theory – some background on adaptations, and what we think makes a good adaptation (with a few tangents into the upcoming Harry Potter series and Greta Gerwig’s Narnia).

Links:

On the Art of Adaptation by Linda Hutcheon [Jstor]

Context in Film Adaptations [Jstor]

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We love to hear from listeners about the books we discuss - you can connect with us on Instagram or by emailing us at thenovelteapod@gmail.com.

This episode description contains links to Bookshop.org, a website that supports independent bookstores. If you use these links we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

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In this episode we talk all about All's Well, a novel that is in part a retelling, in part an homage to theater, and a completely wild ride of a book. We discuss the way perception plays into the story, and how repetition functions to serve the narrative - and of course, we explore All's Well That Ends Well and MacBeth, the two plays at the heart of this novel.

Shelf Discovery:

Bunny by Mona Awad

Woo Woo by Ella Baxter

Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa

The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton

My Death by Lisa Tuttle

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We love to hear from listeners about the books we discuss - you can connect with us on Instagram or by emailing us at thenovelteapod@gmail.com.

This episode description contains links to Bookshop.org, a website that supports independent bookstores. If you use these links we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

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Neha and Shruti discuss Home Fire, a retelling of Antigone set in the present day that explores questions of family, loyalty, beliefs, and legacy. We share some background about Sophocles' Antigone to help ground the discussion, discuss the parts of the novel that we loved, and share some of our issues with its construction. And as always, we share book recommendations in our Shelf Discovery segment for readers who liked different aspects of Home Fire.

Shelf Discovery:

The Other Americans by Laila Lalami

Circe by Madeline Miller

Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami

Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad

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In this special bonus episode, we are so excited to be joined by Izzy of What the Austen? as we talk all things relating to Austen adaptations! We discuss what makes a good adaptation, and that special quality to Austen's prose and which movies and TV shows succeed at capturing her magic. And, of course, we talk about our favorite (and least favorite) screen adaptations!

Follow Izzy on her Youtube Channel, Instagram, or by listening in to her other excellent podcast episodes!

If you would like to get additional behind-the-scenes content related to this and all of our episodes, subscribe to our free newsletter.

We love to hear from listeners about the books we discuss - you can connect with us on Instagram or by emailing us at thenovelteapod@gmail.com.

This episode description contains links to Bookshop.org, a website that supports independent bookstores. If you use these links we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.