Welcome to Literary Friction. I'm Carrie Plitt here with my co-host, Octavia Bright.

Hi, Octavia. How are you?

Hi, Carrie. I am very excited to be here today because of what we're going to talk about,

but also because I'm recovering from the filthiest chest infection I think I've ever had and I have spent a lot of time lying down and inside my own brain. So I'm just like delighted to be moving out of it. But that's why I'm a little croaky. I'm afraid today. How about you? How are you? Tell me about the world of health and dynamism. I miss it. Do you know what? I'm not bragging, but it's been quite nice.

Oh, you witch. No, tell me. Shine the sunshine on me down the airwaves. You know, today there was a gentle breeze. The sun was out. The flowers were growing in the meadow. I breathed in the fresh

air on my daily run. I saw some goslings. It was nice. And I have to say, I am just so excited to be

here today because we have a slightly different show. And we'll talk about that in a minute won't we?

We will, but before we do, we've got to get business out of the way, as always.

If you like, you can support us on Patreon by subscribing at patreon.com forward slash lit friction.

You will also get access to an extra minisode each month.

There are now 28 waiting for you there and you'll have the chance to suggest themes as well. So, as I was teasing, Octavia is not only my beloved co-host today down the line from London,

but she is in the line. She's always down the line. She lives in the line. The liminal space.

That's right. Between London and Oxford.

Anyway, she is also my interviewee.

So you probably know by now that Octavia's book, This Ragged Grace, is coming out and in fact is published the day that this minisode comes out on the 1st of June.

So I could not resist the chance to grill her about it. And this is really coming from me. This is not Octavia saying I must talk to our listeners about my book. It was me saying

our listeners must hear you speak about your lovely book and I must know more about you. So I am going

to grill her. Just kidding. I am actually legitimately nervous, by the way.

I'm going to gently and lovingly ask you some questions about a book that I genuinely loved and

cannot wait to talk about. And it is really true. So in case you don't know, this ragged grace

tells the story of Octavia's journey through recovery

from alcohol addiction and the parallel story of her father's descent into Alzheimer's.

...