Confessions of a Book Collector
Book collectors and literary enthusiasts unite in first-of-it’s-kind podcast. Goldsboro Book’s Managing Director and Co-Founder, David Headley an award-winning bookseller and renowned literary agent, explores all aspects of publishing and book collecting, interviewing bestselling and upcoming authors, whilst sharing his own insights on book investing and the most inspiring reads to add to your collection.
Confessions of a Book Collector
Francis Spufford On Why Fantasy Makes History Feel More Real
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This week on Confessions of a Book Collector, we’re joined by the brilliant Francis Spufford to talk about his genre-bending new novel set in Blitz-era London.
Blending history with fantasy, Francis explores a city under pressure, where bombs fall, angels appear, and time-travelling fascists threaten the fragile course of history. At the heart of it all is Iris, a fiercely ambitious and refreshingly modern heroine navigating a world in flux.
We dive into why the Blitz remains such a powerful setting, how small moments can shape the fate of history, and why writing fantasy can sometimes reveal deeper truths than realism. Francis also shares his journey from non-fiction to fiction, his love of story-driven writing, and the literary influences that shaped him, from C. S. Lewis to J. R. R. Tolkien.