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Northern Irish novelist Maggie O’Farrell has long been admired for fiction that blends emotional intimacy with sweeping historical scope, and her work has found devoted readers on both sides of the Atlantic. She is the author of several acclaimed novels, including After You’d Gone, The Hand That First Held Mine, and The Marriage Portrait, books that circle questions of love, loss, memory, and the hidden lives that shape history. Her 2020 novel Hamnet—a reimagining of Shakespeare’s family life through the eyes of his wife and son—became a global bestseller and won the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Now O’Farrell has entered the film world with remarkable success. Hamnet, directed by Chloé Zhao, has won the Golden Globe for Best Drama and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.

Northern Irish novelist Maggie O’Farrell has long been admired for fiction that blends emotional intimacy with sweeping historical scope, and her work has found devoted readers on both sides of the Atlantic. She is the author of several acclaimed novels, including After You’d Gone, The Hand That First Held Mine, and The Marriage Portrait, books that circle questions of love, loss, memory, and the hidden lives that shape history. Her 2020 novel Hamnet—a reimagining of Shakespeare’s family life through the eyes of his wife and son—became a global bestseller and won the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Now O’Farrell has entered the film world with remarkable success. Hamnet, directed by Chloé Zhao, has won the Golden Globe for Best Drama and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.

Gayle Feldman’s new book, "Nothing Random: Bennett Cerf and the Publishing House He Built," is the story of the legendary Random House founder Bennett Cerf, whose seemingly charmed life afforded him a front-row seat to literary and cultural history in the making.

Most of us think we’d never fall for a cult. But toxic groups don’t just exist on the fringe. They thrive in boardrooms, group chats, fitness classes, political rallies, religious groups, and corporate retreats—anywhere we seek identity, purpose, and belonging.The new book, "The Culting of America," cult survivor, scholar, and former Army intelligence officer Daniella Mestyanek Young—author of the bestselling memoir Uncultured looks to dismantle the illusion that cults are rare or easy to spot.

Stewart O’ Nan’s fiction has always paid close attention to the people and relationships that shape us. In his new novel “Evensong” he brings that attention to bear on a vivid cast orbiting Emily Maxwell as she enters her 90s. This is the concluding chapter in a trilogy that began with “Wish You Were Here” and continued in “Emily Alone” and it widens the lens to explore not only Emily’s interior life but the network of care surrounding her.

“Nash Falls: A Thriller” by David Baldacci was one of the most popular books this Holiday Season and remains on the NYT Bestsellers list. We meet Walter Nash, a successful businessman whose life is upended when the FBI recruits him to go undercover at his own company to expose a massive money-laundering operation run by a criminal mastermind.

Walter Isaacson is a biographer of geniuses like Benjamin Franklin and in his new book he reveals the origins of the most genius revolutionary line in the Declaration of Independence. He does so in his book “The Greatest Sentence Ever Written.”

“Yiddish: A Global Culture” at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts is the first ever museum exhibition to showcase the extraordinary vibrancy and breadth of modern Yiddish culture - its literature, theater, art, music, journalism, politics - from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day.David Mazower, Chief Curator and writer of the exhibition and catalog, joins us along with the center’s Director of Publishing and Public Programs, Lisa Newman. They will be at The Bookstore in Lenox December 14 at 4 p.m. to present a conversation and book signing.

On this week's 51%, we speak with Keene State College Professor Dr. Lisa DiGiovanni about "militarized masculinity," and the connection between authoritarianism, state violence, and misogyny. In her new book, Militarized Masculinity in Spain and Chile, DiGiovanni outlines how hyper-masculinity and the idolization of the military contributed to the rise of Spanish Dictator Francisco Franco in the 1930s and Chilean Dictator Augusto Pinochet in the 1970s. In both cases, DiGiovanni says backlash to social progress for women and minorities helped catapult these men to power. She also examines how the arts were used to resist or expose these regimes in their later years, and lays out the warning signs that other countries, including the U.S., should watch for.

Our next guest has been nominated for 16 Academy Awards winning twice for “Blade Runner 2049” and “1917.” Few cinematographers have shaped the look and language of modern cinema as profoundly as Roger Deakins. Over the course of five decades, he has worked with some of the most influential directors of our time brining to life films that have become visual touchstones: “The Shawshank Redemption,” “No Country for Old Men,” “Skyfall,” and “1917” to just name a few. In his new book “Reflections on Cinematography” Deakins steps out from behind the camera to explore the craft and curiosity that have guided his life’s work. The book offers not only behind the scenes insights into some of the most enduring films of the past century but also a thoughtful meditation on observation, a light movement, and human behavior shape what we see and how we understand story.