Susan Ertz Author

Susan Ertz (1887–1985) was an Anglo-American novelist known for blending romance, social satire and philosophical reflection. Born in Surrey to American parents, she spent much of her childhood in the USA before settling in Britain. Her breakthrough came with Madame Claire (1923). Among her most notable works is Woman Alive (1936), a speculative novel about the last woman surviving a global plague, praised for its originality and feminist undertones. Over a long career, Ertz explored women’s independence and moral dilemmas, leaving behind a body of fiction that is both popular and thought-provoking.

Graham Norton began his broadcasting career as comedian and panellist on the BBC Radio Four show Loose Ends in the early 1990s. He has hosted various radio and TV shows, including the multi-BAFTA-winning The Graham Norton Show. Norton has written two memoirs, So Me and The Life and Loves of a He Devil. In 2016, he published his debut novel, Holding, followed by the bestselling A Keeper which tells of a New York-based academic returning to her Irish hometown after the death of her mother. Norton’s third novel, Home Stretch, is a moving exploration of guilt and the search for a place to belong. He discovered Susan Ertz’s novel Madame Claire at a church fete in West Cork, and was instantly smitten with her work.

Tom Gauld was born in Aberdeen and studied at Edinburgh College of Art and The Royal College of Art. He is a cartoonist and illustrator with weekly comic strips in The Guardian and New Scientist. His comics have been published in the New York Times and on the cover of the New Yorker. He is the author of Goliath, You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack, Mooncop, Baking with Kafka (winner of an Eisner Award), Department of Mind-Blowing Theories, Revenge of the Librarians and Physics for Cats. He lives with his family in London.