Great novels offer insights into the human condition but can they also be tools for living? Co-hosts Ella Berthoud and Isabelle Dupuy provide bibliotherapy in our new podcast series. Each month listeners can write in with their dilemmas and our dynamic duo will suggest remedies for the head and heart, drawn from novels, poetry and prose collections.
Publisher
WritersMosaic Magazine from the Royal Literary Fund
Excerpt
Write in with your dilemmas and our dynamic duo will suggest remedies for the head and heart, drawn from novels, poetry and prose collections.
Contact Isabelle and Ella for a literary check up here:
writersmosaic.org.uk/fiction-prescriptions-dilemmas (https://writersmosaic.org.uk/fiction-prescriptions-dilemmas)
Fiction prescribed in this episode:
'Liar!' (short story) from I Robot (https://www.waterstones.com/book/i-robot/isaac-asimov/9780008279554) by Isaac Asimov
Machines Like Me (https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/439838/machines-like-me-by-mcewan-ian/9781529111255) by Ian McEwan
Turing Test (poem) (https://poetrysociety.org.uk/poems/turing-test/) by Franny Choi
Monk and Robot (https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9781250386335?utm_source=Waterstones&utm_medium=pdp&utm_campaign=oos-link) by Becky Chambers
Transcription (https://www.waterstones.com/book/transcription/ben-lerner/9781803513805) by Ben Lerner
Rose House (https://www.waterstones.com/book/rose-house/arkady-martine/9781035065677) by Arkady Martine
Fiction Prescriptions (https://writersmosaic.org.uk/category/limited-series/fiction-prescriptions/) is an original audio series by WritersMosaic Magazine from the Royal Literary Fund. Discover more new writing at WritersMosaic.org.uk (https://WritersMosaic.org.uk)
7 Oct 2026
Money - Ella Berthoud and Isabelle Dupuy
Is money more important in societies today than it was 20 years ago? Ella and Isabelle use fiction to unpack how money can be either a tool or a hindrance and look at how attitudes towards money have changed over time.
Fiction Prescriptions (https://writersmosaic.org.uk/category/limited-series/fiction-prescriptions/) is an original audio series by WritersMosaic Magazine from the Royal Literary Fund. Discover more new writing at WritersMosaic.org.uk (https://WritersMosaic.org.uk)
5 Aug 2026
Superstitions - Ella Berthoud and Isabelle Dupuy
What role does superstition play in literature, how can fiction be used as a fortune telling device, and does the magic of reading fade with age? Ella Bethoud and Isabelle Dupuy discuss superstition in fiction and which books have brought magic to the forefront of their lives.
Fiction Prescriptions (https://writersmosaic.org.uk/category/limited-series/fiction-prescriptions/) is an original audio series by WritersMosaic Magazine from the Royal Literary Fund. Discover more new writing at WritersMosaic.org.uk (https://WritersMosaic.org.uk)
1 Jul 2026
Food - Ella Berthoud and Isabelle Dupuy
Is food solely necessity and security, or does it represent something deeper? Ella Berthoud and Isabelle Dupuy discuss, through fiction, how food can be a love language, a tool, a weapon and a means of bringing people together.
Fiction Prescriptions (https://writersmosaic.org.uk/category/limited-series/fiction-prescriptions/) is an original audio series by WritersMosaic Magazine from the Royal Literary Fund. Discover more new writing at WritersMosaic.org.uk (https://WritersMosaic.org.uk)
3 Jun 2026
The manosphere - Ella Berthoud and Isabelle Dupuy
What does boredom have to do with the manosphere? And how is the manosphere reflected in what we read? Ella Berthoud and Isabelle Dupuy prescribe literary fictions to help us understand and break free.
Fiction Prescriptions (https://writersmosaic.org.uk/category/limited-series/fiction-prescriptions/) is an original audio series by WritersMosaic Magazine from the Royal Literary Fund. Discover more new writing at WritersMosaic.org.uk (https://WritersMosaic.org.uk)
6 May 2026
Parenting - Ella Berthoud and Isabelle Dupuy
Ella and Isabelle prescribe fiction for parenthood. Is parenting primarily a matter of style, how much of parenting is about biology and what advice can fiction offer?
Fiction Prescriptions (https://writersmosaic.org.uk/category/limited-series/fiction-prescriptions/) is an original audio series by WritersMosaic Magazine from the Royal Literary Fund. Discover more new writing at WritersMosaic.org.uk (https://WritersMosaic.org.uk)
1 Apr 2026
The state of the world - Ella Berthoud and Isabelle Dupuy
Ella and Isabelle reflect on, and provide prescriptions for, the state of the world. How can fiction help us to understand what we are living through, how to handle it and continue to fight for values, for a world we want to live in?
Fiction Prescriptions (https://writersmosaic.org.uk/category/limited-series/fiction-prescriptions/) is an original audio series by WritersMosaic Magazine from the Royal Literary Fund. Discover more new writing at WritersMosaic.org.uk (https://WritersMosaic.org.uk)
4 Mar 2026
Love - Ella Berthoud and Isabelle Dupuy
What’s the importance of love in relationships? Is it overrated? How does it survive displacement? How is it lost or found? Ella Berthoud and Isabelle Dupuy dive into novels and offer literary prescriptions.
Fiction Prescriptions (https://writersmosaic.org.uk/category/limited-series/fiction-prescriptions/) is an original audio series by WritersMosaic Magazine from the Royal Literary Fund. Discover more new writing at WritersMosaic.org.uk (https://WritersMosaic.org.uk)
11 Feb 2026
New Year’s resolutions - Ella Berthoud and Isabelle Dupuy
Concerned about your New Year’s resolutions, the folly of making them, the impossibility of keeping them? Ella Berthoud and Isabelle Dupuy dive into novels and offer literary prescriptions.
Fiction Prescriptions (https://writersmosaic.org.uk/category/limited-series/fiction-prescriptions/) is an original audio series by WritersMosaic Magazine from the Royal Literary Fund. Discover more new writing at WritersMosaic.org.uk (https://WritersMosaic.org.uk)
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16 ratings
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