David Nicholls in conversation with Clare Balding, Cadogan Hall

David Nicholls is know writing funny, subtle and poignant fiction, a formula which he perfected with 2009’s One Day, a meteroric hit around the world, with a hit film adaptation. For all this success, he is also a remarkably grounded and affable speaker, who is candid about the difficulty he had following on from the huge success of Emma and Dexter's romance. Living up to your own hype is tricky for any author, but not many manage it quite so deftly as Nicholls has; not only is his new novel, Us, is refreshingly different yet just as heart-wrenchingly vivid; it also made this year's Man Booker long list. Us tells the story of Douglas Peterson, a father and husband who, in a bid to keep his family together, organises one last holiday.  With the grand cities of continental Europe as its backdrop and Nicholls's characteristic warmth infused into the prose, it's a moving and bittersweet exploration of family relationships
Nicholls is as charming and eloquent in person as he is on paper, and his talk with Clare Balding promises to be both funny and insightful. 
After her conversation with Nicholls, Balding will be talking with popular television host Graham Norton as part of the Blinkbox Books launch festival.