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Book at Bedtime: The Restoration of Otto Laird

Alan Corduner

Nigel Packer

Jeremy Osborne

Rosalynd Ward

Book at Bedtime: The Restoration of Otto Laird: Episode 5

The Restoration of Otto Laird

Episode 5

BBC Radio 4 - Book at Bedtime, The Restoration of Otto Laird, Episode 5

Otto recalls how his first wife Cynthia came up with the design for Marlowe House.

During filming, Otto recalls how the design for Marlowe House was achieved, and in particular the inspiration of his first wife, Cynthia.

A story of memory and place, old age and architecture.

"Otto had felt surprisingly nervous on the plane across from Geneva; not from any fear of flying, but a fear of what he was flying to. [...] Throughout the short flight he experienced a strange inner turbulence. He had a queasy sensation that he was re-establishing a connection with the past; flying backwards into his own memories. He would no longer be experiencing them from a distance, but in the city where they had once been real."

Architect Otto Laird has been living a semi-reclusive life with his second wife in Switzerland. But he is forced to re-engage with the wider world when he learns that his landmark building Marlowe House - a 1960s tower block in South London - has been marked for demolition.

Episode Five.
During filming, Otto recalls how the design for Marlowe House was achieved, and in particular the inspiration of his first wife, Cynthia.

Nigel Packer lives in London. He has been a music reviewer for BBC News Online and Ceefax, a reporting officer at the International Committee of the Red Cross and a contributor to various magazines and newspapers. The Restoration Of Otto Laird is his first novel.

Reader: Allan Corduner
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Rosalynd Ward

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

By Nigel Packer. A story of memory and place, old age and architecture.

By Nigel Packer. Semi-reclusive architect Otto Laird is forced to re-engage with the wider world when he learns that his landmark building has been marked for demolition.

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