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Secret Life of Books

Sophie Gee and Jonty Claypole
  • 4.9 (71)
  • BOOKS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Every book has two stories: the one it tells, and the one it hides.The Secret Life of Books is a fascinating, addictive, often shocking, occasionally hilarious weekly podcast starring Sophie Gee, an English professor at Princeton University, and Jonty Claypole, formerly director of arts at the BBC. Every week these virtuoso critics and close friends take an iconic book and reveal the hidden story behind the story: who made it, their clandestine motives, the undeclared stakes, the scandalous backstory and above all the secret, mysterious meanings of books we thought we knew.-- To join the Secret Life of Books Club visit: www.secretlifeofbooks.org-- Please support us on Patreon to keep the lights on in the SLoB studio: https://patreon.com/SecretLifeofBooks528?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLinkinsta: https://www.instagram.com/secretlifeofbookspodcast/youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@secretlifeofbookspodcast/shorts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. Saved from Fire: the Toni Morrison Archives

    3D AGO

    Saved from Fire: the Toni Morrison Archives

    As part of our series on the writing of Toni Morrison we’re lucky enough to record a conversation with one of the world’s leading Toni Morrison scholars, Professor Autumn Womack. Autumn has spent more time with the Morrison Papers at Princeton University than pretty much anyone else – except (maybe) Morrison herself. Autumn describes the experience of coming to Morrison’s writing for the first time in high school, returning to it years later to her as a graduate student and finally getting to teach Morrison's novels at Princeton, where Morrison spent the last years of her writing life. We hear about the fire that nearly destroyed all Morrison's records, and the librarians who saved her papers. Autumn explains why archives are anything but boring – and how some discoveries she and her students made can change the way we read Morrison’s great novels. More about Autumn and her work https://english.princeton.edu/people/autumn-womack An essay Autumn mentions: “Rootedness: The Ancestor as Foundation” (1984) Become a subscriber by signing up at Apple: http://apple.co/slob Or join our Patreon community here: https://www.patreon.com/c/secretlifeofbookspodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    37 min
  2. Toni Morrison 2: Song of Solomon

    6D AGO

    Toni Morrison 2: Song of Solomon

    Song of Solomon (1977) propelled Toni Morrison into mainstream recognition as a major American writer, not just of her own generation but all generations, past present and to come. Song tackled something close to the “whole” of African American history, weaving multi-generational stories that included Africa itself, the southern landscapes of plantation slavery and the Civil War, and the post-abolition north. It’s a family chronicle, focusing on the life story of the well-to-do Macon Dead III, aka “Milkman,” who grows from boy to man in 1930s and 40s Michigan. The book brilliantly combines mythology, history, domestic and magical realism.  Song of Solomon quickly became famous, expressing a growing awareness among American readers in the late 1970s that the Black civil rights movement of the past 3 decades was, at best, a partial success. One of Morrison’s signature qualities was to focus on writing about Black characters for Black readers, in ways that moved beyond the tropes, devices and storylines that white readers could understand and that previous generations of Black writers had been able to immerse themselves in,  In this episode, the second in our series on the great Nobel Laureate, we continue the story of how Morrison disrupted virtually all existing expectations about how a Black woman novelist would sound. In Song of Solomon she chose a male protagonist to retell a deep history of African cultural magic, annexing the names, stories and language of the Christian Bible to create a story that refuses to do anything that readers of other American retellings of biblical epics were expecting. Become a subscriber by signing up at Apple: http://apple.co/slob Or join our Patreon community here: https://www.patreon.com/c/secretlifeofbookspodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 2m
  3. Middlemarch Book 5: this goes to 11

    FEB 26 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Middlemarch Book 5: this goes to 11

    We’re half way through Middlemarch and the plot twists are coming thick and fast. George Eliot had the confidence to call Book 5 The Dead Hand – audacious, given that every book would have been sold separately. But The Dead Hand it is, and readers brave enough to buy the volume were rewarded with many of the best scenes in the novel. The book opens with the first encounter between Dorothea and Rosmond Vincy, a high-drama scene worthy of Gossip Girl. Next up, and to most readers’ inexpressible relief, Mr. Casaubon drops dead from heart failure. It’s a twist many readers saw coming, but few will have anticipated the ultimatum he issues to Dorothea the night before he dies, and no one expects the shocking reveal about a secret change to his will. Book 5 gallops on, featuring medical dramas and political satires, culminating in the comic set piece of Mr. Brooke’s disastrous campaign speech. Mr. Farebrother, a SLOB favorite, finds his fortunes taking a major turn for the better, only to veer off track immediately when Fred asks him an impossibly awkward favor involving Mary Garth. Still not content, Eliot turns the screw yet again, and the final chapter of the Book is pure Dickensian melodrama. Nicholas Bulstrode the dreary banker has bought Stone Court from Peter Featherstone’s heir, having always wanted a country pile. But Raffles, a ghastly figure from Bulstrode’s past arrives unannounced, drunkenly demanding money. The reader is left guessing why Bulstrode, striken with fear, accedes. And why does Raffles, left alone in the parlor, suddenly remember the name “Ladislaw,” a man once married to a mysterious new character named Sarah?

    52 min
  4. The Other Bronte Girl: Anne Bronte's Tenant of Wildfell Hall

    FEB 24

    The Other Bronte Girl: Anne Bronte's Tenant of Wildfell Hall

    With all the fuss and fanfare around Wuthering Heights, we’re worried Emily Bronte is getting more than her fair share of attention. So today we shift the SLOB-light to her younger sister Anne, author of the remarkable The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, published in 1848. Anne wrote it in a whirlwind after the successes of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, determined to prove herself a Bronte in talent and spirit. And though Anne is now the least celebrated of the Bronte trio, Tenant at the time of its publication it was considered the most shocking in the Bronte collective oevre. Anne had fearlessly pulled back the veil on marital infidelity, domestic violence, alcoholism, and the systemic torments of Victorian masculinity and marriage laws. Listeners will spot fascinating overlaps with many of the key scenes and motifs in Emily’s and Charlotte’s writing — like the fact Lord Huntingdon, the violent villain of Tenant, shares his initial with Heathcliff; that he sometimes bears an odd resemblance to Mr. Rochester, and that Wildfell Hall itself has the same initials as Wuthering Heights. But Tenant of Wildfell Hall is also uniquely its own creation, and today Sophie and Jonty get to work unpacking what makes it so extraordinary. To wrap this Bronte mini-series up we ask, should Tenant of Wildfell Hall be classed as peak Bronte, the equal of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre? And should Emerald Fennell be making Tenant the next stop on her raunchy, irreverent period adaptation-spree? Become a subscriber by signing up at Apple: http://apple.co/slob Or join our Patreon community here: https://www.patreon.com/c/secretlifeofbookspodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 7m
  5. Jane Austen's Birthday: why everyone wants to party with Jane

    FEB 21

    Jane Austen's Birthday: why everyone wants to party with Jane

    A special bonus episode about the blockbuster phenom of Jane Austen’s 250th Birthday celebrations. Sophie’s guest is Professor Devoney Looser, one of the world’s leading Austen scholars, and the author of the brilliant Wild for Austen: A Rebellious, Subversive, and Untamed Jane, about the unscripted, occasionally unhinged world that Jane Austen really knew, and which influenced her writing. We talk about why the Austen obsession has only gone from strength to strength, and Devoney looks ahead to Austenmania in 2026, with new screen adaptations coming to delight the fans. Get the Book: Devoney Looser, Wild for Austen: A Rebellious, Subversive, and Untamed Jane, St Martin’s Press, 2025. More fun coverage: From Alexandra Schwartz, a SLOB guest, in the New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/newsletter/the-daily/jane-austens-uncommon-compassion https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/12/16/books/jane-austen-250th-birthday.html Listen to our episode about Mrs. Dalloway with Alex Schwartz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    30 min
  6. Emerald Fennell's "Wuthering Heights": is the hype worth it?

    FEB 17

    Emerald Fennell's "Wuthering Heights": is the hype worth it?

    Best Valentine’s Day ever! SLOB’s “Wuthering Heights” watch-party. Sophie and Jonty take it character by character – inanimate characters included — to decide who are the winners and who are the losers in the Fennell-Robbie-Elordi mash-up adaptation of Emily Bronte’s novel. And in the episode’s gripping second half they move onto the really meaty questions: race, class, sex, domestic violence, and pets. As the movie poster says, Come Undone - with SLOB - this Valentine's season. Become a subscriber by signing up at Apple: http://apple.co/slob Or join our Patreon community here: https://www.patreon.com/c/secretlifeofbookspodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    53 min
  7. Middlemarch 4: only connect

    FEB 12 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Middlemarch 4: only connect

    This week we continue our ascent of Mount Middlemarch with Book 4: “Three Love Problems.” The three love problems, of course, are Dorothea and Casaubon, Lydgate and Rosamond, and Fred and Mary. But with Eliot the label never really says what's in the tin. What we're learning in this book is that intimate, domestic actions and small gestures are always also connected to the big picture of politics, social conditions, and the nation at large. We might think that Casaubon’s dislike of Will is just a matter of petty jealousy, of an older man for a younger, or that Will’s slightly sneaky efforts to keep the relationship going with Dorothea are incidental to the political health of Britain. What we learn, though, is that these personal dynamics and character traits are shaping local, and ultimately national politics. We’ll start realizing that the cost of Rosamond’s linen handkerchiefs, for her wedding trip, will alter the course of Lydgate’s scientific inquiries and the town's medical advancements, and that whether Mary Garth moves to York to take a teaching job depends on whether Dorothea is persuades her uncle to restore his tenants’ cottages. We’re starting to understand at this point in the novel that everything is connected to everything else. Novels might be a domestic, intimate, personal form of storytelling, but there’s no such thing as purely personal or domestic emotions and actions. Political reform and scientific advancement might seem to belong to larger systems of power than small human vanities and petty vengeances, but alas, they are interdependent. All human impulses and feelings shape the lives of others, and the bigger affairs of the nation and the world. But Eliot knows better than to bog down in affairs of state, descriptions of rent-rolls and rotten boroughs. We want to know what kind of china the Lydgates will chose, and how Dorothea will bear living in the same house as Mr. Casaubon. The book ends with one of the most moving and finely turned moments in the novel, as Dorothea and her husband are briefly reconciled. But how long can their truce last, while Will Ladislaw continues to work for Mr. Brooke, constantly finding ways to cross paths with his cousin's wife?

    51 min
  8. Wuthering Heights: Is this really the greatest love story of all time?

    FEB 10

    Wuthering Heights: Is this really the greatest love story of all time?

    The storm clouds are gathering in anticipation of the Valentine’s Day release of Emerald Fennell’s raunchy film adaptation of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. The film has been described by one critic as “very horny, very sumptuous, and very demented.” Margot Robbie looks set to change the way we read this beloved classic, well, if not forever, for a few weeks during awards season. It’s fair to say that anyone remotely connected to the world of classic literature is standing by, getting ready to jeer. And it’s also fair to say that the film has propelled Wuthering Heights to become the most read classic of 2026. The New York subway, the London Tube and many other transport systems worldwide are dotted with earnest young people, proudly nose-deep in their Penguin Wuthering Heights. If SLOB has a motto, it’s be prepared. To ready our devoted listeners for the big V. Day release, we’ve recorded a brand-new episode on Wuthering Heights. Emily Bronte’s novel, which may just be the most unhinged, genre-busting, unputdownable classic in English, is back, bigger, better, and balmier than when SLOB recorded our first episode back at the very beginning of this podcast. We drink deep, but always with our trademark cheeky humor, in Emily Bronte’s biography, the secrets behind the book’s writing, and why the Heathcliff-Catherine love-story it is most definitely not GOATED, as the kids say. Become a subscriber by signing up at Apple: http://apple.co/slob Or join our Patreon community here: https://www.patreon.com/c/secretlifeofbookspodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 9m
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4.9
out of 5
71 Ratings

About

Every book has two stories: the one it tells, and the one it hides.The Secret Life of Books is a fascinating, addictive, often shocking, occasionally hilarious weekly podcast starring Sophie Gee, an English professor at Princeton University, and Jonty Claypole, formerly director of arts at the BBC. Every week these virtuoso critics and close friends take an iconic book and reveal the hidden story behind the story: who made it, their clandestine motives, the undeclared stakes, the scandalous backstory and above all the secret, mysterious meanings of books we thought we knew.-- To join the Secret Life of Books Club visit: www.secretlifeofbooks.org-- Please support us on Patreon to keep the lights on in the SLoB studio: https://patreon.com/SecretLifeofBooks528?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLinkinsta: https://www.instagram.com/secretlifeofbookspodcast/youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@secretlifeofbookspodcast/shorts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Sophie Gee and Jonty Claypole
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    145
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Secret Life of Books
  • Show Website
    Secret Life of Books
  • Provider
    Sophie Gee

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