Book In

Rupert Fordham and Charlie Fordham
  • 0.0 (0)
  • BOOKS

Book In is a podcast in which brothers Rupert and Charlie Fordham discuss all things English Literature. From Chaucer to the present day, covering drama, novels and poetry, they cover all the classics and much more, from the UK, Ireland, the US, Europe and the rest of the world. Informative but lighthearted, Book In is suitable for all readers, and will be helpful for students doing GCSE, A-Level and university English degrees as well.    Both Rupert and Charlie have been keen readers all their lives and both studied English at university. For many years Charlie taught English at GCSE and A-level. 

  1. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens - Part 1

    2D AGO

    Great Expectations - Charles Dickens - Part 1

    Published at the height of his powers in 1860, Great Expectations is Charles Dickens’ penultimate novel, and one of his very greatest. Its characters are unforgettable - Miss Havisham, self-imprisoned in her wedding dress and with her wedding feast laid on the table in the forbidding Satis House; her ward Estella, haughty, ice-cold and unreachable, the agent of Miss Havisham’s intended revenge on men and on the world; Magwitch, the desperate and terrifying convict who confronts the young boy Pip in a graveyard on the Kent marshes; and the intimidating, brilliant and untouchable lawyer Jaggers, who seems to act as a puppet master to many of the characters throughout the story. In the first of two episodes, Rupert and Charlie explore Dickens’ childhood, and how the experience of being forced to work in a factory at the age of 12, and seeing his father being imprisoned for debt, affected him for the rest of his life. Charlie talks about the brilliance of so many of the openings of Dickens novels, especially this one, and looks at Dickens' rich and vivid portrayal of London and the Kent marshes. But what are the great expectations that Pip has, and who else has them too? When they aren’t realised, what hard truths does Pip learn? And why did Dickens write several different endings to the novel? Join Rupert and Charlie to find out.

    51 min
  2. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë - Part 2

    JAN 30

    Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë - Part 2

    In the second of the episodes on Jane Eyre, Rupert and Charlie take a look at some of the main characters in the book. The behaviour of Mr Rochester is basically weird - he locks up his wife in the attic, dresses up as a female gypsy fortune teller, and flirts with Blanche Ingram when he's really in love with Jane. Why does he do this? Why did he marry Bertha in the first place? And why does he risk his life to save her? When Jane leaves Rochester, she finds shelter with a family who turn out to be her cousins. One of them is the terrifying St John Rivers, an evangelical soldier of Christ who wants Jane to join him in his journey. Why does she refuse? What is Charlotte Bronte's attitude to religion in this book? How does Jane suddenly find herself rich, and what does she do with the money? And is Jane Eyre as good as Wuthering Heights? Join Book In as we conclude our discussion of this wonderful and hugely influential novel.

    55 min
  3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë - Part 1

    JAN 23

    Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë - Part 1

    Jane Eyre is Charlotte Bronte's most famous book and one of the most celebrated, controversial and loved novels ever written. Millions who have never read it know about the mysterious Mr Rochester, the mad wife he kept locked up in his attic, and the image of her throwing herself from the battlements of Thornfield as she burned it to the ground, Mr Rochester blinding and maiming himself as he tries to save her. The novel is the story of an orphaned and plain girl, Jane Eyre, who despite the disadvantages of her start in life, is determined to find independence and fulfillment. Bronte explores issues of female equality and what kind of power balance is needed to have a successful marriage. The book was an instant success, and, once her identity had been revealed, Charlotte became famous and comfortably off; but she was never very comfortable in the fashionable literary salons of London, preferring to live most of her life in the Parsonage at Haworth in Yorkshire where her father was the curate. What does the book say about the professional and emotional prospects for a strong minded, intelligent woman in Victorian England? Why does Jane refuse Rochester's offer of living with him as her mistress in the south of France? Are the coincidences in the story clumsy plot devices or indications of the divine work of God's providence? Is the book racist in its treatment of Rochester's first wife? Why does Jane learn Hindustanee? And do Jane and Rochester really end up with the perfect marriage? Join Rupert and Charlie as they discuss this most wonderful of C19th novels.

    55 min
  4. Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

    JAN 13

    Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

    In 1816, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was staying on the shores of Lake Geneva with his young wife Mary, and his friends Lord Byron and John Polidori. It was the year without a summer, and, confined to the house by the terrible weather, they each agreed to write a ghost story. Over the next few weeks, the 19 year old Mary produced Frankenstein, one of the most consequential and influential books ever written. Fusing the Gothic and Romantic, it tells the story of the brilliant young scientist Victor Frankenstein, who discovers how to make a living creature out of old body parts. His creation is the Monster; endlessly recreated in film, TV and painting, the story has haunted the western imagination ever since. Is Frankenstein’’s creation a tragic figure or an inhuman force for evil? What responsibility do we have for what we create? Why are we terrified of new technologies? And whatever happened to Mary Shelley? Join Rupert and Charlie as they explore this most iconic of novels.

    55 min
  5. Small Things Like These - Claire Keegan

    JAN 5

    Small Things Like These - Claire Keegan

    Small Things Like These is a short novel by the Irish writer Claire Keegan. It tells the story of Bill Furlong, a coal merchant in a small provincial town in the mid 1980s. As Christmas approaches, he delivers some coal to the local convent, and by chance discovers a girl there who is being kept in a coalshed. It is clear she is in distress and Bill is faced with a choice - should he do nothing, or act? Through Bill's story, we learn of the hold of the Catholic Church on the community, and the existence of the Magdalene laundries, in which unmarried mothers were kept, normally against their will. Does Keegan's light and deft style fully convey the horror of the laundries, which were common throughout the Church until the 1990s? Are there echoes of A Christmas Carol? And does the book ever topple over into overt sentimentality? Surely not from an Irish writer! Join Charlie and Rupert as they discuss this fine novella, short listed for the 2022 Booker Prize.

    54 min
  6. Christmas Poems

    12/23/2025

    Christmas Poems

    Charlie and Rupert look at three great poems associated with Christmas - In the Bleak Midwinter by Christina Rossetti, a section from In Memoriam by Alfred, Lord Tennyson and The Magi by W.B.Yeats. Rossetti's is a much loved and beautiful Christmas Carol, Tennyson's is a highly crafted meditation on some of the great themes of the mid C19th, and Yeats' a more primal reflection on faith and the connections between folklore and religion. But they all refer to Christmas either directly or indirectly; Charlie explores their derivations and intentions and reflects on how successful each one is.

    44 min
  7. Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol

    12/11/2025

    Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol

    The tale of the miserable Ebeneezer Scrooge, and how he came to find humanity, generosity and love, is probably the most famous Christmas story ever written outside the Bible. It is a ghost story and a classic morality tale; the book firmly established Christmas as a time for family, for joy, for generosity, presents and huge lunches, as well as a time of forgiveness and a chance to mend ones ways and set a path for a better life. But in the background are the familiar Dickensian themes of misery, grinding poverty and the appalling living conditions which existed in London at the time. Did Dickens invent the modern version of Christmas with this book? How important is Christianity? Does it matter that it is sentimental? And where have we seen the Ghost of Christmas Past before on Book In? Join Rupert and Charlie as they get in the mood for Christmas past, present and future.

    55 min
  8. Poets: Philip Larkin

    11/28/2025

    Poets: Philip Larkin

    Philip Larkin wrote some of the greatest poetry in English in the second half of the twentieth century. Brilliant, famous and successful, he chose to live as a librarian in Hull, largely avoiding the public gaze, and watching the world from the edge of England. His simple language and easily accessible work have made him hugely popular, and his ability to use everyday scenes and events to convey profound ideas and feelings on life, love and death are deeply moving, and achieved in part through superb poetic technique. And yet, while he had multiple relationships, he never really found love; in one of his poems, he says "Life is first boredom, then fear", and both feature heavily in his work. Complicated, irascible, misogynistic, borderline racist, increasingly reactionary as he grew older, he is not on the face of it sympathetic for a modern audience. So why does he remain as popular as ever? What were his attitudes to sex and to death? How does he achieve his technical mastery? And how does Charlie ruin for ever Rupert's love of one of his most celebrated poems?Join Book In to find out.

    56 min
See All (32)

Trailer

About

Book In is a podcast in which brothers Rupert and Charlie Fordham discuss all things English Literature. From Chaucer to the present day, covering drama, novels and poetry, they cover all the classics and much more, from the UK, Ireland, the US, Europe and the rest of the world. Informative but lighthearted, Book In is suitable for all readers, and will be helpful for students doing GCSE, A-Level and university English degrees as well.    Both Rupert and Charlie have been keen readers all their lives and both studied English at university. For many years Charlie taught English at GCSE and A-level. 

Information

  • Creator
    Rupert Fordham and Charlie Fordham
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    32
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Book In
  • Show Website
    Book In

You Might Also Like