Dua Lipa talks to David Szalay about his book, Flesh, as part of the Service 95 book club. This conversation was recorded live at the New York Public Library on September 15th.
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Dua Lipa‘s October pick for her Service95 book club is ‘Flesh‘ by David Szalay. The novel follows teenaged István who lives with his mother in a quiet apartment complex in Hungary. Shy and new in town, he’s a stranger to the social rituals practiced by his classmates and soon becomes isolated. His neighbour, an older married woman, who he begrudgingly helps with errands, is his only companion. But as these periodical encounters shift into a clandestine relationship, István’s live starts to spiral out of control, ending in a violence accident that leaves a man dead.
What follows is a rocky trajectory that sees István emigrate from Hungary to London, where he moves from job to job before finding steady work as a driver for London’s billionaire class. At each juncture in his life, István is affected by the goodwill or self-interest of strangers while remaining a calm and detached observer in his own life. Through his own eyes, we experience his immigrant “success story.”
See what Dua says below:
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On September 15th, Dua Lipa attended a live recording of her Service95 book club podcast in New York, which was hosted by Spotify and the New York Public Library. Dua’s interview was with ‘Flesh’ author David Szalay and the conversation was moderated by Spotify Chief Public Affairs Officer Dustee Jenkins.
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Dua Lipa talks to Percival Everett about his book, The Trees, as part of the Service 95 book club.
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Dua Lipa‘s September pick for her Service95 book club is ‘The Trees‘ by Percival Everett. The novel opens with a series of brutal murders in the rural town of Money, Mississippi. The murders present a puzzle as each crime scene presents a second dead body. Wisecracking detectives Ed Morgan and Jim Davis are sent down to investigate from the big city and soon discover that each victim has a connection to historical cases of lynching, particuarly that of 14-year-old Emmett Till who was brutally murdered in that same down in 1955.
Dua Lipa adds:
It might sound like a grim tale – and, of course, the subject matter is harrowing. But as the story unfolds, author Percival Everett cleverly sends up all the usual tropes, from TV cop shows to classic detective stories, using satire to bring deep-rooted political issues to light in this masterful blend of horror and humour. He even throws in zombies for good measure.
And then there’s the simmering rage that lies at the heart of this book: at racial violence, at police brutality, at the inequity of American history. It’s Percival at his very best – delivering one-liners that will make you howl with laughter, while simultaneously punching you in the gut.
Nobody puts it better than Herberta Hind, the book’s straight-talking (Black) FBI agent, when she says: “History is a motherfucker.” And once you’ve read The Trees, you’ll understand why.”
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Dua Lipa talks to Helen Garner about her book, This House Of Grief, as part of the Service 95 book club.
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Dua Lipa‘s August pick for her Service95 book club is ‘This House of Grief‘ by Helen Garner. This non-fiction book tells the true story of a murder trial. On Father’s Day 2005, a recently divorced man in rural Victoria, Australia, drove his car off the road and into a dam. He swam to safety, but his three young boys drowned. When local writer Garner saw it on the news, she wanted it to be an accident. Her House of Grief takes us inside the real-life trial of Robert Farquharson as Garner sits through days of detailed evidence, weeks of witness testimony, and years of appeals.
Dua said: “What [Garner] reveals along the way is not simply a courtroom drama but a sharp and forensic analysis of the human condition. This is what really drew me to Helen’s writing. She’s not looking for monsters – her interest lies with ordinary people who seem to have been pushed beyond their emotional limits. As the trial progresses, I found myself questioning my own reactions, asking myself less, Did he do it? and instead, Is it possible to have empathy for this man, even if he did the worst thing imaginable?”
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Dua Lipa talks to Vincent Delecroix about his book, Small Boat, as part of the Service 95 book club.
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Dua Lipa shared with Service95 the 5 books she’s read and reading next this summer. Check them out:
1. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante – “I cannot get enough of this book, it’s the ideal summer read as it’s so sun-kissed! If you’ve already read it, there are three more in the series to dive into.”
2. Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – “This has been on my TBR pile for a while and I can’t wait to have time to read it this summer.”
3. Fearless & Free by Josephine Baker – “Formed from conversations over 20 years with French journalist Marcel Sauvage, this memoir has just been published in English for the first time.”
4. This House Of Grief by Helen Garner – “It wouldn’t be my book pile without at least one harrowing story. A nonfiction account of a case that follows an accused father driving his car into a dam with his three sons in the back. I couldn’t put it down.”
5. Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange – “Tommy sent me a signed copy of this after my Service95 Book Club interview with him about his novel There There. This is the prequel and the sequel, and I can’t wait to dive in.”
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Dua Lipa‘s July pick for her Service95 book club is ‘Small Boat‘ by Vincent Delecroix. The short novel fictionalises the events around the real-life drowning of 27 people in the English Channel in November 2021. Those who lost their lives – always referred to as ‘migrants’ in the press – were crowded into a sinking inflatable dinghy and made increasingly desperate calls for help – in French, in English, and in Kurdish. But no help came. Dua said: “This book challenged me profoundly. It moved me, and stayed with me. It’s not an easy read – but as our politics descend into hate-mongering and point-scoring, it’s an essential story that needs to be told.”
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