Each month on euradio, in Turning The Page, our team will be interviewing people from the book world.
In the second programme, Evain and Hawkridge focus on a selection of their favourite quotes from the novel, using them as entry points into its inventive narrative structure and philosophical depth.
They discuss how Shriver’s episodic exploration of multiple possible futures for Kay and Cyril—from failed suicide pacts to extreme medical scenarios, cryogenics, or even a world without ageing—challenges linear storytelling and invites readers to reflect on contingency, choice and the limits of control over one’s life and death.
Through close reading of key passages, the hosts highlight the novel’s tonal shifts between satire, pathos and speculative fiction, revealing how individual lines crystallise broader concerns about autonomy, dignity, medical ethics and the unpredictable consequences of both staying and going.
