Join me on Saturday at 2pm for another episode of Hannah’s Bookshelf on North Manchester FM. This week, my guest will be the brill Jonathan Franklin.

Young and idealistic Jonathan left rural Suffolk to work in Brazil. After a few years in an investment bank in Rio, he bought into land in the Amazon. He soon learned that beneath the colourful mosaic of races, religions and cultures was a strong undercurrent of greed, unprincipled politics and violent crime. Building a life in the Amazon, he became acutely aware of the plight of the indigenous people and the destruction of the Rain Forest. It led him to write his first work of fiction, Red Road Green, in the hope of raising awareness of an impending tragedy that will affect us all.

Jonathan’s first book, Two Owls at Eton, was described as a classic of wildlife writing. It went straight to the bestseller list and stayed there for several weeks. Republished in 2016, it was a bestseller all over again.

I’ll be talking to Jonathan about Red Road Green, his influences and his writing in general. And, of course, he’ll be sharing his selections for this week’s Apocalypse Books.

Catch the show on Saturday at 2pm on 106.6FM (if you’re in the North Manchester area) or listen online (if you’re further afield).