For Adults
The Two Roberts by Damian Barr is the next book to be featured this season on the Sara Cox Radio 2 Book Club—an intoxicating and brave novel which reimagines one of the strongest and most passionate love stories of modern British art, Robert Colquhoun and Robert MacBryde, as the Second World War draws near.
You can listen to the live interview with Damian on BBC Sounds from 2 September.
We have the chance for you to win a set of 10 copies of this novel for your book club. To apply, click on the survey link below. UK residents only, deadline for entries 17 September 2025.
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The Two Roberts
He will stay like this forever, Robert’s arm draped round him. They will be forever twenty.
Scotland, 1933. Bobby MacBryde is on his way. After years grafting at Lees Boot Factory, he’s off to the Glasgow School of Art, to his future. On his first day he will meet another Robert, a quiet man with loose dark curls – and never leave his side.
Together they will spend every penny and every minute devouring Glasgow – its botanical gardens, the Barras market, a whole hidden city – all the while loving each other behind closed doors. With the world on the brink of war, their unrivalled talent will take them to Paris, Rome, London. They will become stars as the bombs fall, hosting wild parties with the likes of Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon and Elizabeth Smart. But the brightest stars burn fastest.
Stunningly reimagined, The Two Roberts is a profoundly moving story of devotion and obsession, art and class. It is a love letter to MacBryde and Colquhoun, the almost-forgotten artists who tried to change the way the world sees – and paid a devastating price.
How to apply
To apply, fill in this survey by 17 September.
