In this bonus episode, Elin and Tim travel virtually across the pond to Scotland to interview one of their favorite writers of the English language, Maggie O’Farrell, author of Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait. The three discuss the differences between publishing in the UK and in the US, what it means to Maggie to be Irish, how she researches her settings, point of view and experimentation with the craft of language, publishing a plague novel during COVID-19, writing fiction about real people, and her memoir I Am I Am I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death. You’ll immediately want to order every Maggie O’Farrell novel you can get your hands on because, as Tim and Elin say in the episode, they would "read her grocery list!" A special thank you to our Episode Sponsors: Lovango Resort & Beach Club - limited time, 10% off your stay at Lovangovi.com/ELIN Book of the Month - limited time, first book for just $9.99 with code ELIN Maggie O'Farrell Reading List: After You’d Gone Instructions for a Heatwave The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox This Must Be the Place I Am I Am I Am Hamnet The Marriage Portrait What else are we reading in this episode: The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dar The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright Other authors mentioned: Rudyard Kipling, Louis MacNeice, William Shakespeare, Alice Munro, Ann Patchett, Margaret Atwood, Elizabeth Strout, William Boyd, and Anne Enright. Follow/Subscribe to the 'Books, Beach, & Beyond' podcast now to stay current on new episodes. And find us on Instagram at @booksbeachandbeyond Happy Reading!