Today we're diving into Wallace Stegner's Crossing to Safety, a novel that captures the rare, sustaining friendships between two couples, Sid and Charity Lang, and Larry and Sally Morgan. Though set in Wisconsin during the depression era, the story feels surprisingly relevant. Stegner shows how the right people at the right moments can steady us, shelter us, and make us grateful for the friendships that have become our own crossings to safety. It's beautifully written and tastes like comfort food in literary format.

We're joined by fellow book-clubber Amanda Frost, who recommended this novel and will help us explore why it remains essential reading, especially as we drift deeper into a world where genuine connection can feel increasingly scarce amid all the noise of AI and social media.

Would you like to escape into a companion story to Pride and Prejudice? Look no further than Janice Hadlow's wonderful novel The Other Bennet Sister. Hadlow masterfully gives new life and direction to Mary Bennet — the often-overlooked sister originally written as a figure of ridicule. We talk about how Mary develops as a character and eventually finds love.

We're joined by author and Austen expert Paula Byrne, whose insights into Austen's world help us explore how Hadlow skillfully weaves together threads from Pride and Prejudice and early 19th-century society to create a fresh, moving portrait of what it meant to be "plain" and without prospects, and how (like it or not) we are all a little like Mary.

To learn more about Paula Byrne and her work, visit paulabyrne.com.

This book club chat is truly monumental. We had the privilege of hearing from author and legend Orson Scott Card, whose contributions to the world of science fiction are nothing short of brilliant. I was moved to tears as he spoke about how many individuals from his own life are woven into his fiction. While he cannot heal them in real life, he finds a way to heal them and offer redemption through his literature.

Join us as we discuss the qualities of empathy and kindness, how humanity might respond to an alien invasion, the dramas that unfold within families and marriages, and the uncomfortable truths that sometimes go unspoken at funerals.

If you haven't yet read Speaker for the Dead, please do. This book still carries remarkable healing power and feels profoundly relevant today.