Take Four Books - Laurent Binet
Presenter James Crawford speaks with multi-award-winning, Booker-longlisted French author Laurent Binet about his latest novel, Perspectives, and the three other works that influenced its creation.
Set in 16th-century Florence, the novel follows an investigation into the mysterious death of a renowned painter, found lying on a church floor with a fatal stab wound to the heart. Above him, the masterpieces he dedicated over a decade to completing. But who is responsible for his murder?
Laurent’s influences were: Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos (1782); The Story of my Escape from the Prisons of Venice by Giacomo Casanova (1788); and The Florentine Histories by Niccolo Machiavelli (1532).
The supporting contributor was poet, translator and lecturer in Creative Writing at Loughborough University, Dr Kerry Featherstone.
Producer: Rachael O’Neill
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production
Published on Sunday, 23rd February 2025.
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