Steve Toltz

I mean, what does that feel like?

And not only is the Blair election happening, I think it's important to say that you've nailed the music in 1997.

We're listening to the Spice Girls.

We're listening to Savage Garden.

You cannot escape them at this moment in time.

And the book is called Two Islands, and people are going to be surprised, Ian, to find we've been talking about Yugoslavia all that time, but the action in this book actually happens on an island in Scotland.

Why are you writing about Scotland?

Okay.

So we've got this young man who is fleeing.

His name is Nico and he finds himself on these Scottish islands.

Who is Nico?

What has he lived through and why is he on the run?

And, you know, this is such a quiet island.

At points it feels like there are only about three locals in this place, but one of them is this guy called Ronnie.

He's an old man who's always helping others.

Is this based on someone you know?

He is a lovely man and the people on this island are inherently good people, Ian Kemmish.

And I know you've talked about this.

You've said, I wanted to write a story about people doing good.

I wanted to write a story about goodness.