NPR's Book of the Day – "These Days" by Lucy Caldwell

Episode Date: January 14, 2026
Host: Scott Simon (Interview), Andrew Limbong (Intro)
Guest: Lucy Caldwell, author of These Days

Overview

This episode centers on Lucy Caldwell’s historical novel These Days, set during the 1941 Belfast Blitz. Through an evocative conversation with host Scott Simon, Caldwell delves into the challenges of reconstructing an undertold chapter of Belfast’s history and explores the novel’s themes of survival, identity, and the resilience of family under siege. The episode provides both a window into Caldwell's meticulous research and writing process, and a reflection on the way cataclysmic historical events shape personal and collective memory.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Power of Specific Detail in Historical Fiction

• Caldwell stresses the necessity of precise, believable details to create an immersive fictional world:
  • “In fiction, if you can get that one detail right, then a reader will believe in the whole world.” (Lucy Caldwell, 03:27)
• She cites Gabriel Garcia Marquez, noting the contrasting impact of detail in journalism and fiction.

Weaving Personal and Researched History

• Caldwell’s grandmother, a survivor of the Belfast Blitz, provided inspiration — albeit indirectly, as older relatives often declined to recount traumatic memories:
  • “My own grandmother lived through the Belfast Blitz…she would never talk about the Belfast Blitz…for there's no good can come of talking of it.” (Lucy Caldwell, 04:00)
• Nevertheless, Caldwell gathered powerful micro-details — such as storing a lump of coal in the crisper to revive old potato pie — both from family lore and careful interviews with survivors.

The Sisters at the Heart of "These Days"

• The novel follows two sisters, Audrey and Emma, whose uniquely contrasting personalities reflect the private, public, and secret selves each character harbors, even within a family:
  • “I was interested…in looking at people's public selves and their private selves and their secret selves and the extent to which these sisters really don't know each other.” (Lucy Caldwell, 04:50)

The Haunting Rituals of Survival

• Practical, harrowing details are laced throughout the narrative:
  • Audrey tucks her identity card inside her dress, so her body can be identified if killed during a bombing.
  • Caldwell reveals that during the Blitz, Belfast’s St. George’s Market was used as a temporary morgue. Family members searched for loved ones among the dead, desperate for recognizable scraps of clothing.
  • “She’s thinking very practically. But when you read the firsthand accounts…there were some very, very harrowing stories.” (Lucy Caldwell, 05:28)

Resonance with Contemporary Crises

• Caldwell wrote during the COVID-19 lockdown, drawing parallels between the uncertainty and endurance required in both contexts:
  • “There was a sense that you didn't know which of your loved ones were going to make it through. You might not be able to see them again.” (Lucy Caldwell, 06:40)
• She discusses the myth of the “Blitz spirit,” contrasting stoic slogans with the real, drawn-out terror and fragility people faced:
  • “You have no idea if there are going to be weeks of this or months or years. And I felt also the ways in which life has to go on...showing how irrepressibly life does go on and life has to go on.” (Lucy Caldwell, 07:28)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the importance of detail:
  “If you can get that one detail right, then a reader will believe in the whole world.”
  — Lucy Caldwell (03:27)

• On generational silence:
  “My own grandmother lived through the Belfast Blitz...she would never talk about the Belfast Blitz. Anytime I asked her, she would always say, ‘Oxshaw, you want to know about that? For there's no good can come of talking of it.’”
  — Lucy Caldwell (04:00)

• On the omnipresence of fear:
  “Audrey knows that she has to somehow put her identity card inside her brassier, inside her underwear, so that if she is killed, her mother and father will know that the body is hers.”
  — Lucy Caldwell (05:28)

• On narrative relevance to the present:
  “It felt a way of keeping close to my city and keeping my city alive.”
  — Lucy Caldwell (06:40)

• On the uncertainty of disaster:
  “If you could somehow tell people just get through four days of bombing or four months or even four years, they can plan. But...you don't know how long the terror will last, do you?”
  — Scott Simon (07:08)

• On carrying on through adversity:
  “Showing how irrepressibly life does go on and life has to go on.”
  — Lucy Caldwell (07:28)

Important Timestamps

• 01:26 – Caldwell reads a passage from These Days, immersing the audience in the immediate terror of the Blitz.
• 02:24 – Caldwell explains her motivation for setting the novel in Belfast, reflecting on overlooked history.
• 03:27 – Discussion of the literary value of detail and an anecdote about Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
• 04:00 – Caldwell relates family stories and research methods; importance of granular, lived-in details.
• 04:50 – Exploration of the sisters’ differences and psychological depth.
• 05:28 – Harrowing realities of survival and the practical details of life (and death) during war.
• 06:40 – Writing during COVID-19 and drawing emotional parallels between past and present.
• 07:28 – Complexity of “Blitz spirit,” unpredictability of prolonged crisis, and the need for hope.

Summary Conclusion

Lucy Caldwell’s These Days is presented as a resonant, meticulously detailed novel that shines a light on a little-known episode of Belfast history. Through personal anecdotes and diligent research, Caldwell articulates the power of fiction to render history palpable. Her conversation with Scott Simon reveals both the emotional inheritance of traumatic events and the vital, sometimes painful, processes by which personal and collective stories are remembered, written, and passed on.