Books by Faulks, Shepherd-Robinson and Firdaus to feature in seventh series of Between the Covers

Sebastian Faulks, Laura Shepherd-Robinson and A P Firdaus are among the authors whose books have been selected for the seventh series of the "Between the Covers" TV book club presented by Sara Cox on BBC2 this autumn.

Each week, the show features four guests discussing their favourite book and two book club picks. One of these picks will spotlight a newly published book, reflecting a mixture of styles and genres, and the second will be a classic selected from The Booker Prize backlist.

The first episode stars Richard Armitage, Rob Delaney, Anita Rani and Jo Brand. The "new book" pick will be Faulks’ The Seventh Son (Hutchinson Heinemann), and the title chosen from The Booker Prize backlist will be The God of Small Things by Roy (HarperCollins), which won the prize in 1997.

The second episode stars Ade Edmondson, Annie Macmanus, Chris McCausland and Angela Barnes. They will be discussing The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Pan Macmillan) and the "gem" chosen from The Booker Prize backlist, 1993 winner Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle (Vintage).

Moreover, Sandi Toksvig, Alex Jones, Adam Kay and Omari Douglas will be appearing on the third episode, to discuss Remember, Mr Sharma by A P Firdaus (Sceptre). The Booker Prize backlist pick for this episode will be The Light of Day by Graham Swift (Scribner), which was longlisted in 2003.

Show four stars Andi Osho, Suzi Ruffell, Ahir Shah and Ed Byrne, talking about Falling Animals by Sheila Armstrong (Bloomsbury) and My Sister, The Serial Killer by Braithwaite (Atlantic), which was longlisted for The Booker Prize in 2019. Kerry Godliman and Ben Miller will be appearing on the fifth episode, alongside Nish Kumar and Laura Smyth, to discuss Devil’s Breath by Jill Johnson (Bonnier Books) and William Boyd’s Any Human Heart (Penguin), a 2002 Booker-longlisted title.

Finally, the sixth episode will star Geri Halliwell-Horner, Ellie Taylor, Miles Jupp and Bill Paterson. The new book pick for the show will be The Unspeakable Acts of Zina Pavlou by Eleni Kyriacou (Head of Zeus) and the title chosen from The Booker Prize backlist will be Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler (Chatto & Windus/ Vintage), which was longlisted in 2020.

The book club picks have been chosen by executive producer and c.e.o of Cactus TV Amanda Ross. In deciding on the list, Ross canvased a range of experts across the industry and was supported by a panel comprising series producer Pollyanne Conway, Prima books editor Nina Pottell and consultant and literary agent Julia Kingsford.

Cox said: "The books chosen this series I think are amongst the best we’ve ever had; superb writing that will entice and delight our viewers plus of course oodles of other great reads courtesy of our superstar guests, who come clutching their favourite books to share with our awesome audience."

Ross added: "Our job was especially tough this series because there have been so many amazing and original books published this season, consequently we were spoilt for choice so I’m more confident than ever that we have something for everyone.

"Our six picks from the Booker Prize nomination backlist for this series have given us the excuse to read some truly brilliant books that I’m delighted to be able to spotlight for our audience. The celebrity guests’ selections are a joy, and it’s wonderful to see the impact on sales those recommendations have."