Muse, Myth & Murder: Mich​èle Gerber Klein on Gala Dalí and Anthony Horowitz on THE MARBLE HALL MURDERS

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Episode Summary

Mich​èle Gerber Klein discusses Surreal, her revelatory biography of Gala Dalí, the forceful and fascinating woman behind surrealist master Salvador Dalí. Gala emerges not just as a muse, but as a powerful shaper of modern art and identity.

“She wasn’t just a muse, she was an artist in her own right… she created a persona and curated a life.” — Michèle Gerber Klein

Then, Anthony Horowitz returns to the show with The Marble Hall Murders, the latest installment in his popular Atticus Pünd series. Blending classic mystery style with postmodern flair, Horowitz discusses the literary sleuthing of character Susan Ryland and the Agatha Christie-inspired brilliance of fictional detective Atticus Pünd.

All the tropes of the murder mystery are in there, but because of the nature of these books, which are both modern and old fashioned, I always have a certain self-questioning aspect going on. — Anthony Horowitz

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Key Words: Gala Dalí, Michèle Gerber Klein, Surreal biography, Salvador Dalí, women in surrealism, surrealist movement, Anthony Horowitz, The Marble Hall Murders, Atticus Pünd mystery series, Susan Ryland, metafictional crime novel, British mystery fiction,

You Might Also Like: Anthony Horowitz, MAGPIE MURDERS, Anthony Horowitz, MOONFLOWER MURDERS

Segment One: Michèle Gerber Klein

In her acclaimed biography Surreal, Michele Gerber Klein offers an eye-opening portrait of Gala Dalí, a woman who reinvented herself repeatedly—from sickly Russian girl to Parisian intellectual to the co-architect of the Dalí myth. Her biography reveals how Gala’s charisma, vision, and marketing genius shaped not only Salvador Dalí’s work but also important cultural currents of the 20th century.

Key Topics:

• Gala Dalí’s transformation and self-reinvention
• Gala Dalí’s influence Surrealism
• Salvador Dalí and the mythmaking of genius
• Control, ambition, and creativity in artistic partnerships

Listen to or Read a Sample from SURREAL

Segment Two: Anthony Horowitz

Anthony Horowitz discusses The Marble Hall Murders, the latest twist-filled entry in his Atticus Pünd and Susan Ryland series.

A murder mystery within a novel-within-a-novel, this postmodern homage to classic detective fiction follows editor-turned-sleuth Susan Ryland as she opens an investigation tied to a continuation manuscript to the series written by the late mystery writer Alan Conway. Horowitz talks about channeling Agatha Christie, the appeal of nested narratives, and why mystery fiction is unique among literary genres.

Key Topics:

• The Atticus Pünd and Susan Ryland series
• Homage to Agatha Christie and classic mysteries
• The art of writing mysteries within mysteries
• Susan Ryland as female protagonist in crime fiction
• The metafictional structure of the series