Will

you know used to be engines chassis uprights you name it um so you feel like will and i we're thankful that well up until well we probably wouldn't be at triple eight if if there wasn't the new car that come in with the new spec same as where i am now yeah we would have never got the opportunity we probably had we were probably lucky man you because we got

You know what I mean?

I haven't heard this.

Maggie, welcome back to Waterstones.

I should point out that whilst people watching this will be watching it in the summer, we're recording it literally a week after you were at the Oscars ceremony for Hamlet.

How are you?

Okay.

Okay, good.

Happy to be back in a familiar place.

We are here to talk about Land, but I did think it was worth just sort of mentioning Hamlet because the experience that you've had with that book has been a sort of a long road.

And your involvement with the film is not just simply because you happened to write the book.

You co-wrote the film and therefore you had real skin in the game when it came to the Oscars.

Were you able to enjoy that experience or is it just terrifying from start to finish?

You think you might be able to dip your toe in the future?

Who knows?

Well, huge congratulations to you and to everybody involved with that film.

It was fantastic for me to get a chance to see it as part of the whole publicity for it and great success for everyone involved.

As I say, we're here to talk about Land, which is your new novel.

And I was really struck by the letter that was at the beginning of my proof where you talk about the fact that this is an incredibly personal book for you based on some of your real family history.

And I wondered if you could tell us a little bit about what that family history is.