# Sara Baume & Emily LaBarge: Opening Night

An episode of [London Review Bookshop Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/734373360), 7 Sep 2026, 1 h 04 min.

Audio: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/LRB5429146846.mp3

Shortly after the pandemic lockdown Sara Baume came across a painting in a pop-up exhibition in a renovated West Cork shed. Fascinated by it, she became determined to make the painter’s acquaintance – although a native of North Dakota the artist Mollie Douthit was now living and working in rural Ireland. Bonded by a common love of nature and a commitment to their respective artistic practices, they began to meet regularly, to talk, to eat and to swim. What would it be like, Baume wondered, to write a book in the style of Mollie’s painting? Opening Night is the result. She was in conversation with Emily LaBarge, author of Dog Days. You can buy a copy of Opening Night from the London Review Bookshop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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