Sweet Caress

Original version

BBC Radio 4 LW

Book at Bedtime

Audiobooks

Podcasts

Drama

Readings from modern classics, new works by leading writers and world literature

Readings from modern classics, new works by leading writers and literature from around the world

BBC Radio 4 Extra

BBC Radio 4 FM

Barbara Flynn

William Boyd

Sara Davies

Mair Bosworth

Book at Bedtime: Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay: Episode 1

Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay

Episode 1

BBC Radio 4 - Book at Bedtime, Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay, Episode 1

Novel by William Boyd, bestselling author of 'Any Human Heart' and 'Restless'.

4 Extra Debut. In 1915, Amory’s uncle sets her life on its course when he gives her a camera for her seventh birthday. Read by Barbara Flynn.

Bestselling author William Boyd's novel follows one remarkable woman through the decades of the 20th century. 

In 1915, Amory’s uncle unknowingly sets her life on its course when he gives her a Kodak Brownie No 2 as a present for her seventh birthday, igniting a lifelong passion for photography. Her camera will take her from high society London in the 1920s to the cabaret clubs and brothels of inter-war Berlin; to 1930s New York, the Blackshirt riots in London’s East End, and to France and Germany during the Second World War, where she becomes one of the first female war photographers. 

She eventually comes to rest on a remote Scottish island, where she drinks, writes and looks back on a personal life that has been just as rich and complex as her professional one. She remembers the men that have been closest to her – her father, her brother, her lovers – irreparably scarred by two world wars, and reflects upon her own experiences of conflict and loss, passion and joy. 

William Boyd is the author of 14 novels including A Good Man in Africa, An Ice-Cream War, Any Human Heart, Restless, Ordinary Thunderstorms, Waiting for Sunrise and Solo. He lives in London and South West France. 

Read by Barbara Flynn
Abridged by Sara Davies
Producer: Mair Bosworth

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2015.

Book at Bedtime: Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay

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.

William Boyd's novel follows one remarkable woman through the decades of the 20th century.

William Boyd's novel follows one remarkable woman through the decades of the 20th century. Abridged by Sara Davies, read by Barbara Flynn.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Book at Bedtime

Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay

Episode 1

Contributors

Genres

Brand

Series

BBC Radio 4 LW

About BBC Radio 4