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BBC Radio 4 LW

Book of the Week

Audiobooks

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Serialised book readings, featuring works from various genres

Serialised book readings, featuring works of non-fiction, biography, autobiography, travel, diaries, essays, humour and history

BBC Radio 4 FM

Book of the Week: The Outrun

Tracy Wiles

Amy Liptrot

Sara Davies

Simon Richardson

Book of the Week: The Outrun: Episode 3: The Corncrake Wife

The Outrun

Episode 3

Episode 3: The Corncrake Wife

The Corncrake Wife

BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week, The Outrun, The Corncrake Wife

A job with the RSPB sees Amy scouring the islands nightly, listening for rare Corncrakes.

Amy Liptrot's incisive memoir of overcoming alcoholism amid the luminous Orkney landscape.

Liptrot grew up on a sheep farm on Orkney. She was shaped by the wind-swept islands, but longed for the excitement of the city. A move to London led to a life that was hedonistic and fun but she was unable to control her drinking. Her alcoholism exposed her to some terrifying situations and left her lost and lonely. At thirty she finds herself washed up back home in Orkney, and discovers that this place she once longed to escape is curative, its wildness and lore playing an essential part in her recovery from addiction.

Today: a job with the RSPB sees Amy scouring the islands nightly, listening for rare Corncrakes.

Written by Amy Liptrot
Read by Tracy Wiles 
Abridger: Sara Davies
Producer: Simon Richardson.

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.

Amy Liptrot's incisive memoir of overcoming alcoholism amid the luminous Orkney landscape.

Amy Liptrot's incisive memoir of overcoming alcoholism amid the luminous Orkney landscape. Read by Tracy Wiles

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Episode 3: The Corncrake Wife

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