The Novel That Changed My Life

We invite some well known people to reflect on a book that they’ve loved. In this six part series we’ve invited some well known people to choose a book that they’ve loved or valued because it inspired them in some way.

Cherie Blair has chosen Khaled Hosseini’s powerful story of female suffering in Afghanistan – “A Thousand Splendid Suns”,

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen immerses himself in the doomed fortunes of the Flyte family, along with Charles Ryder in Evelyn Waugh’s “Brideshead Revisited”,

Vic Reeves recalls his very own hitchhiking equivalent to “On the Road”, Jack Kerouac’s legendary account of a frenzied, liberating drive across America.

Kathy Lette relishes the guile and wit of Becky Sharpe in William Makepeace Thackeray’s “Vanity Fair”,

Mel Smith watches the fortunes of property tycoon Charlie Croker take a nosedive in Tom Wolfe’s “A Man in Full”

Alex James sets off on a fantastic adventure with young Jim Hawkins and the ruthless pirate, Long John Silver in Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island”.

Produced by Susan Marling

Broadcast August 2008