People Who Knew Me

Product Information

Do you think the failure of Emily and Drew’s marriage is due to innate incompatibilities or life circumstances? Would they have stayed together if Drew’s mother had not fallen ill? Episode 1 of People Who Knew Me will be available on first BBC Sounds on 23 May, with episode 2 dropping on the 25 May. New episodes will drop twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the entire series will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from Monday 26 June.

Newark Airport, please,” I said. He didn’t respond, just nodded and navigated his way to the Henry Hudson Parkway, my road out of everything. But fourteen years later, a life-threatening diagnosis forces her to deal with the legacy of what she left behind. I went to see Dancing at Lughnasa at the National, which was so moving in such unexpected ways. The play works a strange kind of magic. At the end, I had tears streaming down my face and couldn’t quite explain why. It taps into something very primal about family and memory. Kyle Soller at the launch event for Andor at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney When many characters in a story ( such as this one), are flawed, make undesirable choices -- disturbing choices --( Emily was not the only character in thisEmily is a faulty character...( she runs away and changes her identity leaving her husband to think she died in 911. Did she run because she felt her entire life had been a lie ....and by living a REAL LIE, she felt as if she was living a more TRUTHFUL LIE? Emily Morris got her happily-ever-after earlier than most. Married at a young age to a man she loved passionately, she was building the life she always wanted. But when enormous stress threatened her marriage, Emily made some rash decisions. That's when she fell in love with someone else. That's when she got pregnant. Just as Emily is finally ready to make the choice between the two men, 9/11 splits the world apart. Amid this terrible tragedy, Emily sees an opportunity to remake herself.

Hooper says in her dedication, "This book is for all those people -- cowardly and courageous -- who dare to imagine leaving it all behind." I had my purse under one arm, an overnight bag under the other. To Angel Rivera, I must have looked like a woman committed to her career, flying off to a business meeting in Philadelphia or D.C. or Boston or some other place requiring just an overnight bag. Maybe he resented the tight bun on top of my head, the height of my heels, the obvious expense of my blouse and perfectly fitting skirt—the same blouse and skirt I’d worn the day before those buildings fell. He didn’t want to be there, driving around someone like me. He wanted to be home with the family I pictured him to have—a few kids and a wife who cleaned apartments or waited tables or worked as a nanny for women like me, overnight-bag-carrying women who left their loved ones for big-city meetings. He wanted to hold that family close because we’d all learned a week before that anything could happen.Meanwhile in present day California Connie’s built her life around her daughter Claire who’s approaching her 14th birthday. Claire believes her father died and the pair are close and happy until a cancer diagnosis blows their world apart. For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial. Macon Blair and Rosamund Pike in the Netflix film I Care a Lot. Photograph: Seacia Pavao/AP; Netflix

Dylan Haskins (Commissioning Editor (Podcasts) for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds) says: “Sharon Horgan has been the creative genius behind some of the best TV dramas of recent years – Bad Sisters, Catastrophe, Motherland – and now she, along with the Merman/Mermade team and Daniella, are turning their hands to audio drama for the first time. People Who Knew Me is an emotionally compelling drama with a sensational cast led by Rosamund Pike. It’s fitting that this podcast will be released by the BBC, which has been pioneering in audio drama for just shy of a century.” And herein lies Connie’s problem. She’s closed herself to everyone and everything. And now needs help. Her writing is phenomenal. This story is about Emily Morris/Connie Prynne. Emily is a New Yorker who married her college sweetheart, they struggle throughout their marriage. Emily is unhappy, does the unthinkable, then September 11th happens and she decides to run away. Enter Connie Prynne who now lives in California with her daughter Claire, she has a happy enough life, just the two of them. Suddenly she get hits with terrible life changing news that forces her to confront her past. The story is told by Emily, an admittedly flawed human who some readers may not like. But Emily has found herself in a tough life and really has no option but to live the life of a martyr, or live the life of a complete asshole. Enter 9/11. What would you have done? I don't think I would do as Emily did, but I don't dare judge the decision she made - no one should until you've walked in those particular shoes.

It’s not too shabby at the moment. There have always been great films with fierce, full-on, female characters who were “too much”. Think about Bette Davis’s roles or John Cassavetes’s A Woman Under the Influence. I played journalist Marie Colvin in A Private War, who was an amazingly complicated figure to put on screen. Now television has also embraced outspoken women who don’t conform to traditional expectations of femininity – and with those characters come interesting opportunities for actresses. This terrific book will be released in May, 2016. I was fortunate to win an advance copy in a Goodreads giveaway. But this novel’s obviously about more than that. We’re forced to ponder whether running is always the best option. Is it better to stay and confront our problems?

You may change or cancel your subscription or trial at any time online. Simply log into Settings & Account and select "Cancel" on the right-hand side. Emily Morris uses 9/11 to fake her own death and run away to start a new life in California as Connie Prynne. Fourteen years later, now with a teenage daughter by her side, Connie is diagnosed with breast cancer. She will be forced to confront her past so that her daughter will not be left on her own if she does not survive. She must decide how to explain her lies, her secrets, her selfish decisions – and ultimately her ‘widowed’ husband. Everything she thought she had fled from when she pretended to die in New York. If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for 65 € per month.This would be a great book for book clubs as there’s lots of fodder for discussion. Connie’s actions (as well as those of Drew) for a start. And Connie’s decision to run. I didn’t agree with a lot of her actions but couldn’t imagine what it would be like in those circumstances. In California, Connie vows to keep people at arm’s length. How does she succeed at this? How does she fail, in spite of herself?