Will Rycroft

I would agree that there are these terrible things that happen to Young Ja in the book and to endure there must be something that is fuelling her will to survive and I wondered where that came from.

Thank you for that answer, Joan.

That's really, really interesting.

Stephanie, a bookseller called Dylan and Bedford sort of highlighted, you've mentioned some of the things that go into the making up a private man and the combination of all of them is something that he clearly loved.

So he loved the slow burn romance in the 50s and 60s, the heartbreaking deterioration of Margaret in the present day and the illuminating and intense theological debates.

I bear to say that David and Margaret could certainly have chosen an easier route through their life, especially given the period that they're living in and their life within the church.

Conflict, of course, causes drama, but it does also provide resistance.

And so I wondered what is driving those two characters forwards, especially when they're encountering so much resistance.

Fantastic.

Thank you, Stephanie.

We're going to sort of swim up towards the lights now.

And Tara, you're going to help us to do that because your book is filled with these fantastic descriptions of swimming, of being in nature, amongst marine life, plant life, birds in the sky, everything.

Rose in Weybridge again said that the ecological writing was radiant but kept light and in contrast to the grief that runs through the book.

I love those descriptions myself as a reader and I wondered, it's so clear that the natural world is obviously really important to you and I wondered if you could tell us a little bit about how it's informing the writing in this book.

Ji Young, Lara in Plymouth said about your book that the magical realism never feels like an escape, but rather a way of expressing emotions too vast and painful for ordinary language.

Now, I made Lara say the magical realism word because it's one of those things that can be really divisive for readers.

I think she makes a really good point about the use of it in your book.

And I wondered if you'd mind sharing a little bit about your approach to writing.

And you mentioned as well about how Korean folklore and culture also feeds into that as well.

A fantastic defence of magical realism as a device.