'The Merge' by Grace Walker
Sara welcomes debut novelist Grace Walker to the Radio 2 Book Club
Debut novelist, Grace Walker, joins Sara in the Radio 2 Book Club to chat about her claustrophobic, dystopian page-turner - 'The Merge'
The book asks a lot of questions for the reader, so Sara and Grace discuss some of those 'what would YOU do?' moments, as well as finding out some of the inspirations behind the plot and storylines. (it turns out, a conversation about not wanting to live in your partner's body can spark a whole novel)
Grace also gives us her book recommendation of the moment, and shares one of the horror stories from writing this particular book - the sort no writer wants to hear!
Here's some more info on 'The Merge'
Laurie is sixty-five and living with Alzheimer鈥檚. Her daughter Amelia can鈥檛 bear to see her mother鈥檚 mind fade. Faced with the reality of losing her forever, Amelia signs them up to take part in the world鈥檚 first experimental merging process for Alzheimer鈥檚 patients, in which Laurie鈥檚 ailing mind will be transferred into Amelia鈥檚 healthy body and their consciousness will be blended as one.
Soon Amelia and Laurie join a group of other merge participants: teenage Lucas, who plans to merge with his terminally ill brother Noah; Ben, who will merge with his pregnant fianc茅e Annie; and Jay, whose merging partner is his unwilling addict daughter Lara.
As they prepare to move to The Village, a luxurious rehabilitation centre for those who have merged, they quickly begin to question whether everything is really as it seems.
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The Radio 2 Book Club
Sara Cox celebrates the best new fiction, with author interviews and reviews.