Scala Radio Book Club: Went to London, Took the Dog by Nina Stibbe
A new book from the hilarious author of ‘Love, Nina’.
Penny Smith welcomed bestselling diarist Nina Stibbe into the Scala Radio Book Club, to discuss her side-splitting sequel to ‘Love, Nina’ titled ‘Went to London, Took the Dog’, the diary traces the next chapter of Stibbe’s life as she returns to the capital.
How do I get rid of the mosquitoes infesting Deborah Moggach's garden? Is it normal for my kids to drink so much? And why doesn't anyone in North London know how to clean up after their dog?
These are just some of the questions plaguing Nina Stibbe as she plots her grand return to London, reflecting on what it means to turn your whole life around aged 60. Whether it's dinner parties with the great and the good of the London literati or micromanaging her son's online dating profile, Nina Stibbe's utterly inimitable wit is ever present throughout this diary of her first return to London since the Love, Nina years.
Penny opened the interview by asking Stibbe: ‘This is all about when you moved from Cornwall and came to London with your dog Peggy, and you took up lodging in the house of the author Deborah Moggach in Camden for a yearlong sabbatical. Although, you didn't know at the time if this was a break from married life or perhaps a fresh start altogether?’
‘I didn't know. For a long time, I'd wanted some time in London. I was feeling a little bit isolated in Cornwall. My kids had left to go to university, and I felt a very long way away from everybody and I thought I need some time in London. I looked at Airbnb’s that were suitable for a little dog. I couldn't afford it. And then this lodging opportunity came up with Deborah, the famous writer. And I knew her a tiny bit. I'd met her many decades ago, but I knew she was great and a fab person. So, I rather jumped at it.
Penny wanted to know more about Stibbe’s characteristic writing style: ‘Now the thing is, it's a very, very funny diary. And it's the way that you write and it's things like the grapefruit soap that you bought yourself as a moving in gift that smells of pork’.
‘That was devastating. That was my first night. And I had arrived in London, and I'd said to myself, I'm back, this is at least a new year, maybe a new start forever, this is going to be fantastic. The reality hit me, and I think that porky soap was the first bad omen. But fruit soap can do that. Fruit soaps, you have to be very careful with.’
Penny was curious about how the people in Stibbe’s novel felt about being in her published diary: ‘You also dog people in. Debbie, as you call her, Deborah Moggach, created such a tropical swamp in the garden that she raised a swarm of giant mosquitoes. Do they know that you've written all this?’
‘Yes, they do. It's very interesting because a lot of them are quite serious writers and serious journalists. And so when I sent them the manuscript quite early on, I said, search for your name, because obviously I couldn't expect them to read my whole diary, and let me know if there's anything you don't feel comfortable with. And of all those people, only one person said: “I don't feel comfortable”. One person over a tiny thing. But with Satnam, I mean, he is a very serious journalist and writer. Satnam was Debbie's previous lodger. He had been lodging there for a year before me. And I say very proudly on April the 25th: “finally thrown away Satnam's loafer.” And I thought he might just say: “I don't know whether I want my loafer in there” or even deny it being his loafer. But he didn't, he was game, and everyone's been incredibly game about it, which is great.
Penny continued: ‘Stella was happy with the fact that you were tired of her catastrophizing and the dress making talk? And the fact that she tried to get involved in an allotment, but just ruins it for Dr. B whose hobby it is. Complains of being cold, and just waits for him in the communal shed, reading Richard Osmond on her phone?’
‘She's happy with that. She's delighted. She doesn't see anything wrong in that. See you and I know that a lot of Stella's behaviour is awful, but Stella doesn't know that. She's proud of it.’
Penny was curious if Stibbe had any plans for a TV adaption: ‘Now, your other book, Love, Nina, was adapted into a BBC series. Have you already started negotiations for this one?’
‘Well, funnily enough, I did a book event last night, and the audience started talking about this. And I honestly hadn't thought about it. And so, I have suddenly got quite excited about it. Although, I don't know whether I can see it as telly. Can you?’
Penny replied: ‘Yeah, absolutely. Without a shadow of a doubt.’
Stibbe: ‘I can see you in it, actually. You could be my friend Stella.’
Penny: ‘I'll make myself available.’
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