Celebrated author Monica Ali was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and was named one of the 20 best young British novelists by Granta. In the Kitchen stars Gabe Lightfoot, an executive chef overseeing an eclectic kitchen staff - and dealing with a dead porter and an intriguing young lady from Belarus.

Alentejo Blue is the story of the Portuguese village of Mamarrosa told through the lives of those who live there and those who are passing through: men and women, children and old people, locals, tourists, and expatriates. An old man reflects on his long and troubled life in this beautiful and seemingly tranquil setting, and anticipates the return of Marco Afonso Rodrigues, the prodigal son of the village and a symbol of this now fast-changing world.

Monica Ali's stunning second book is a collection of stories, set in the Alentejo province of Portugal, linked by characters and by a vivid sense of place and time. Teresa, a beautiful young girl from the village, is supposed to marry a suitable man from the same community, but she wants to see the world. Vasco is a café owner who is losing business to the new Internet café down the road.

Alentejo Blue is the story of the picturesque village of Mamarrosa told through the lives of those who live there and those who are passing through, children and old men, expatriates of all ages, tourists and locals.

Nazneen's inauspicious entry to the world, an apparent stillbirth on the hard mud floor of a Bangladeshi village hut, imbues in her a sense of fatalism that she carries across continents when she is married off to Chanu. Her life in London's Tower Hamlets is, on the surface, calm. For years, keeping house and rearing children, she does what is expected of her. Yet Nazneen walks a tightrope stretched between her daughters' embarrassment and her husband's resentments.

Nanzeen's inauspicious birth in a Bangladeshi village imbues in her a sense of fatalism that she carries across continents. Married off to a man old enough to be her father, Nanzeen moves to London and cares for her family. But gradually she begins to question whether fate controls her or whether she has a hand in her own destiny. She discovers both the complexity that comes with free choice and the depth of her attachment to her husband, her daughters and her new world.

This joint reading was recorded live at the 2006 New Yorker Festival in New York City.