Claire Nicholls

Hello from Whadjuk Noongar land, I'm Clare Nicholls, and this is The Book Show, where I bring you conversations with your favourite fiction writers.

Later, Robert Forster is going to join me.

You might know him as the singer-songwriter from the iconic Australian band The Go-Betweens.

He's written a novel about musos on the run.

But first up, it's Maggie O'Farrell and Lande.

Maggie O'Farrell is here.

She is best known for her novels Hamnet, The Marriage Portrait and her memoir I Am, I Am, I Am.

Her new book, well, the hint is in the title.

It is called Land and it's about an Irish mapmaker and his son and what it means to record and live on the land.

Maggie O'Farrell, it's great to have you back on the book show.

And you had a family member who drew some of the early maps of Ireland.

Maggie, tell me about this man.

Were you able to find evidence of your great-great-grandfather when you went and did that research?

What inspired this research?

Was it because you knew you might want to write a novel about this man?

And I mean, this story, I mean, these two incredible stories have been in your family for so long.

Maggie, why do you think now, now was the time to tell it?

It's probably a gift for the novelist, right, to not have too much information because you go, well, we don't have to stick to the record.

I get to get creative.

I've never thought a lot about mapping, Maggie, until I read this book.