Service95 Book Club With Dua Lipa

This month on the Service95 Book Club With Dua Lipa podcast, Dua sits down with French author Jean-Baptiste Del Amo to discuss his novel The Son of Man. A dark and unsettling psychological thriller, the book explores themes of inherited violence, patriarchy, masculinity and love. As Dua puts it: “I have to give a trigger warning - this book is dark, even for me!” 

In a Service95 exclusive, Jean-Baptiste reads a powerful excerpt from the novel, in which the father figure, one of the book’s three protagonists, speaks to his son about his own dark understanding of love, loyalty and betrayal. 

Whether or not you’ve read The Son of Man yet, this reading offers insight into the emotional and psychological forces driving the story. It also showcases Jean-Baptiste’s evocative writing style, from his depiction of the intensity of nature to the looming mountains of the French Pyrenees, where much of the novel is set. 

Buy the book at Bookshop.org, Waterstones, and Barnes & Noble 

Get in touch: 

📩 Email us – [email protected] 

📲 Follow @service95bookclub and @service95 Instagram for updates 

📚 Subscribe to the Service95 Book Club newsletter – introduced each month by Dua – at https://service95.com 

 

And don’t forget to hit subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. 
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This month, Dua sits down with acclaimed French novelist Jean-Baptiste Del Amo to discuss his haunting novel The Son Of Man – a tense, unsettling exploration of masculinity, patriarchy, and the cycles of violence passed from father to son. Set largely in an isolated mountain house in rural France, the novel follows a family upended by the sudden return of a father whose past trauma slowly reveals itself in devastating ways.

“This is a dark book, even by my standards,” Dua says. “And yet, there’s also real beauty here.”

During the interview, Jean-Baptiste tells Dua why he wanted The Son of Man “to talk about all the fathers and all the sons,” and how he used the narrative to confront how violence is learned, inherited, and repeated. He also speaks of his commitment to writing characters who are rarely centred in French literature, drawing on his background in social work to tell these kinds of stories.

Together, Dua and Jean-Baptiste delve into how the novel’s claustrophobic structure draws you into the story, the author’s decision to focus on just three central characters, and the way small, visceral details signal the father’s unpredictable energy. 

As their conversation unfolds, they reflect on the emotional complexity of the novel’s title and its relevance in today’s world. Against the backdrop of ongoing global conversations about male violence, The Son Of Man asks urgent questions about trauma, responsibility, and whether it’s possible to break inherited chains of behaviour.

Buy the book at Bookshop.org, Waterstones, and Barnes & Noble  Get in touch:     

📩 Email us – [email protected]     

📲 Follow @service95bookclub on Instagram for updates     

📚 Subscribe to the Service95 Book Club newsletter – introduced each month by Dua – at www.service95.com     

And don’t forget to hit subscribe wherever you get your podcasts 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Regular listeners of the Service95 Book Club podcast know, as well as our new monthly read author interviews, we love revisiting some of Dua’s most memorable conversations — and this is a firm favourite. 

This time from the archive, we’re diving back into Dua’s conversation with George Saunders about his experimental novel Lincoln In The Bardo, Dua’s Monthly Read for October 2024. Set in the cemetery where President Abraham Lincoln is mourning his young son Willie, it’s a story of intense personal grief, told against a backdrop of the American Civil War.  

Dua and George discuss how he told such an unforgettable story through the eyes of a group of bickering ghosts, and explore the concept of the Bardo, a transitional state between life and death. Together, they read a poignant extract from the book. It’s a glimpse into the mind of one of today’s most compassionate writers — and not one to miss.  

Buy the book at Bookshop.org, Waterstones and Barnes & Noble Get in touch: 

📩 Email us – [email protected] 

📲 Follow @service95bookclub on Instagram for updates 

📚 Subscribe to the Service95 Book Club newsletter – introduced each month by Dua – at www.service95.com 

And don’t forget to hit subscribe wherever you get your podcasts 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark Ronson and Dua Lipa come together for a live recording of the Service95 Book Club at New York City’s legendary Hotel Chelsea. 

In this episode, they respond to your questions from the Service95 Book Club community, diving into the allure of reading, curiosity, and the city after dark. What draws us to intense, shadowy novels? If they could bring back one long-lost NYC institution, which would it be? How do they navigate the endless stream of book recommendations when choosing their next read? And what truths does the night reveal that daylight often conceals? 

Buy the book at Bookshop.org, Waterstones, and Barnes & Noble  Get in touch:     

📩 Email us – [email protected]     

📲 Follow @service95bookclub on Instagram for updates     

📚 Subscribe to the Service95 Book Club newsletter – introduced each month by Dua – at www.service95.com     

And don’t forget to hit subscribe wherever you get your podcasts 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month on the Service95 Book Club podcast, Dua sits down with producer and DJ Mark Ronson to discuss his memoir Night People – a candid look at the music, obsession, and late-night worlds that shaped him long before success felt secure.

In a Service95 exclusive, Mark reads an excerpt from Night People that revisits a formative early lesson in ambition. The passage recalls a moment when, desperate to get a foot in the door, he sells out his best friend Sean Lennon without his knowing, securing a slot for his band at the New Music Seminar. It’s a story driven by hunger, insecurity, and hard-earned self-awareness.

It’s a revealing snapshot of why Night People stays with you – not because it smooths over mistakes, but because it faces them head on.

Buy the book at Bookshop.org, Waterstones, and Barnes & Noble  Get in touch:     

📩 Email us – [email protected]     

📲 Follow @service95bookclub on Instagram for updates     

📚 Subscribe to the Service95 Book Club newsletter – introduced each month by Dua – at www.service95.com     

And don’t forget to hit subscribe wherever you get your podcasts 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices