Michiel Heyns's novel is set in 1907 at Lamb House in Rye where Henry James, the great novelist, lived from 1897-1916. It's an intriguing story told from the perspective of Freida Wroth, his typist.

'Live all you can; it's a mistake not to,' is the maxim of Henry James - and one that Frieda tries to live up to. Despite her admiration for her employer, she is marginalised and under-valued - seen merely as an extension of her Remington typewriter - and is lost between the servants and the guests who include the irrepressible Edith Wharton and the writer Hugh Walpole, as well as Mr James's extended family.

The arrival of the dazzling Mr Morton Fullerton, Paris correspondent for The Times, brings Frieda into sudden focus. As she is drawn into his confidence, she finds herself at the centre of an intrigue, every bit as engrossing as the novels she types. Her loyalties tested, Frieda must choose between anonymity in the presence of a literary master and uncertain love with a man she barely knows.

Read by Sian Thomas
Abridged by Sara Davies

Directed by Alexa Moore
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4. Show less