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Writer and journalist Lionel Shriver talks about her latest novel, The Mandibles – a family story of money, bitterness, rivalry and selfishness set amidst a catastrophic financial collapse.

The novel explores the impact of a US sovereign debt default on four generations of a once prosperous family. The Mandibles have been counting on a sizeable inheritance from their 97-year-old patriarch but the money turns to ashes and a dysfunctional US economy leaves them fighting for survival.

Shriver is a US novelist and journalist living in the UK. She is best known for the Orange prize-winning We Need to Talk About Kevin, which was adapted into a film starring Tilda Swinton. She writes for the Guardian, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and many others.

Here she talks to Boyd Tonkin, literary critic for the Financial Times, Economist and Spectator,and former literary editor of The Independent. Tonkin was chair of the judges for the 2016 Booker Prize and is a special advisor to the Booker international prize.