Nina Stibbe: Love, Nina, Man at the Helm & more

Summary

Three warm, witty works by Nina Stibbe, as heard on BBC Radio – plus bonus author interviews

Nina Stibbe came to fame with Love, Nina, a memoir of her time working as a nanny in 1980s literary London. It won Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the 2014 National Book Awards, and was adapted into a hit BBC TV series. She has since written six more books, four of them novels, and a sparkling selection of her work is included here, alongside two fascinating interviews with Nina herself.

Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life – Mary Poppins meets Adrian Mole in Nina Stibbe's hilarious letters, abridged for Book of the Week and read by Rebekah Staton. Writing to her sister Vic, young nanny Nina recounts her triumphs and trials, from exchanging cookery tips with Alan Bennett and spotting Samuel Beckett to romantic upsets, an uncomfortable theatre trip and the challenges of starting college.

Man at the Helm – Lizzie, Amy and little Jack are worried about their mum. Recently divorced, Elizabeth has taken to drinking and compulsive playwrighting. Desperate to cheer her up, the kids embark on a madcap scheme to find her a new man. Dramatised with a full cast, this beguiling comic novel, set in 1970s Leicestershire, stars Amanda Hale, Eloise Webb, Fern Deacon and Ben Barker.

‘Delamere’s Meadow’ – Forced to find new grazing ground for their ponies, two sisters become embroiled in horsey intrigue with Mrs Luckie-Bryant… Amelia Bullmore reads Nina Stibbe’s first short story for BBC Radio.

Saturday Live: Nina Stibbe – In conversation with Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir, the bestselling author discusses leaving Leicester for London, being a terrible nanny, writing uproarious letters about it and discovering her voice.

Front Row: Nina Stibbe – Talking to Stig Abell, Nina Stibbe discusses the art of comic writing, from making award panel judges chuckle to finding the funny in serious novels and revealing the authors that make her laugh out loud.

Text copyright Nina Stibbe 2013 (Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life), 2014 (Man at the Helm), 2016 (‘Delamere’s Meadow’)

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