British and American novelists Patrick Gale and David Downie discuss their writing and their approach to place and atmosphere in their works.

Gale is one of Britain’s best-known writers including of A Perfectly Good Man, Notes From An Exhibition, the Costa shortlisted A Place Called Winter and Take Nothing With You. He lives in Cornwall and his novels often evoke a Cornwall past and present. His latest is the historical novel, Mother’s Boy, inspired by the boyhood and young life of the Cornish poet Charles Causey. It ranges across two world wars and is set in Cornwall, Malta and Gibraltar.

Downie is an American author of non-fiction books, a literary novel and thrillers and now lives in France and Italy. He writes about travel and runs walking tours in France and Italy.  His most recent novel is Red Riviera, an atmospheric thriller set on the Italian Riviera in the Cinque Terre, glamorous Portofino and roughneck Genoa.