Open Book - 18/04/2010

Alex Clark talks to the children's author Gillian Cross, creator of the Demon Headmaster. Her latest book Where I Belong tells the story of a young Somali immigrant thrust into the complexities of modern British life. Cyprus, and the various struggles for the island's sovereignty between the 1950s and 1970s, is the subject of three recent novels. Sadie Jones and Christy Lefteri join Alex to discuss the difficulties of writing about a territorial dispute which remains unresolved. And the writer Alberto Manguel reflects on a lifetime's reading, as described in his book of essays A Reader on Reading, and reveals how Don Quixote aided his recovery from serious illness. Producer: Thomas Morris.