In this episode, we read a passage from the end of chapter 1 of Abigail Bergstrom's new novel Selfish Girls. You can buy this and her previous book What a Shame from your local bookshop or Bookshop.org [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/selfish-girls-the-searing-darkly-humourous-new-novel-from-the-much-acclaimed-author-of-what-a-shame-abigail-bergstrom/7839182?ean=9781399719483]. Abigail Bergstrom is an author and writer, she has written for national magazines and broadsheets including the Guardian, Sunday Times, the Telegraph, Grazia and ELLE, and she reviews books for the quarterly magazine, Konfek. She writes the substack newsletter 'Something to Say,' [https://abigailbergstrom.substack.com/] offering writing advice and cultural commentary to thousands of readers worldwide. Her debut novel What a Shame was published to critical acclaim and the screen rights were optioned by Severn Productions. Her second novel Selfish Girls publishes this summer. She is also the founder of Bergstrom Studio, a literary agency and publishing consultancy that has represented many Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling authors whose books have won literary prizes and awards. She has been listed in the 'The Bookseller 150' which names the industry's most influential and she sits on the advisory board for Cheltenham Literature festival. Episode references: * Faulkner, As I Lay Dying; The Bone Project * Melissa Febos, The Dry Season [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-dry-season-finding-pleasure-in-a-year-without-sex-melissa-febos/7850208?ean=9781837260096] and Body Work [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/body-work-the-radical-power-of-personal-narrative-melissa-febos/6496635?ean=9781526165848]; Guadalupe Nettel, Still Born [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/still-born-guadalupe-nettel/6762450?ean=9781913097660]; Vincenzo Latronico, Perfection [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/perfection-vincenzo-latronico/7688914?ean=9781804271049]; Georges Perec, Things [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/things-a-story-of-the-sixties-with-a-man-asleep-georges-perec/1090395?ean=9780099541660] Follow the show (and Abi [https://www.instagram.com/abigailbergstrom/?hl=en]) on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. Please leave feedback here [https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ur7mk6rEMUevXdc1sJfq2-MtVOsMawJDpBA3aJ944dVUMkI4OTA3N0dBMUE2SDVJWlpaOE8zNlo4NC4u]. Produced, hosted, and edited by Chris Lloyd [https://www.instagram.com/chrisllloyd9].