What books are on your nightstand?
Too many to mention. I mean, literally about 20 or 30 titles. Some are old favorites that I like to dive back into after a hard day – “Howl’s Moving Castle”, by Diana Wynne Jones, would fall into that category. Some are books I finished a while ago that haven’t yet hit my office shelves—Sarah Pinborough’s “Insomnia” or Dorothy Koomson’s “The Ice Cream Girls,” for example. Some are books I’m in the middle of or have yet to come – Lisa Jewell’s “The Family Remains” is one of them. I’m half way through and got distracted by something I had to read for an event, but it’s waiting for me!
Are there any classic novels you’ve only recently read for the first time?
I’ve only recently read “The Shining” by Stephen King. I’d always thought of myself as too much of a scare for King’s work, having been traumatized by “Christine” aged about 13, but actually “The Shining” wasn’t as horrifying as I’d feared. Or maybe I’ve just gotten tougher with age! Anyway, I’m sorry I waited so long. It also took me a long time to get to Dickens. I had to read it in school and college and found it by turns boring, hermaphroditic, and irritating. The only one I really liked was Great Expectations, but I think I’m old enough now to see the humanity in his work. I’m saving ‘Bleak House’ for my retirement. The temptation is great to run through the canon as young as possible, but you can only read a book for the first time once, and I like to look forward to that.
Describe your ideal reading experience (when, where, what, how).
Pre-smartphones, I would have said something like a cozy couch with a cat at my feet, or a long hot bath with a glass of wine. But now I actually think my ideal reading experience is a long flight (not uncomfortably long, say five or six hours) with a comfortable reclined chair – ideally against the bulkhead so I don’t have to feel guilty about the person’s discomfort. behind me . A nice flight attendant would bring me charming little portions of delicious food and drink at regular intervals (look, this is ideal, not realistic) and most importantly there is absolutely no cell phone reception and no wifi. I love social media as much as the next person, but there’s something particularly blissful about having a completely uninterrupted reading experience these days, without the possibility of being distracted by Twitter or pinged on WhatsApp. Kind of like the cinema, but for books?
What is your favorite book that no one else has heard of?
It used to be Nancy Mitford’s ‘The Blessing’, but the Mitfords have become much more famous in recent years; although that’s one of her lesser known titles, I think a lot of people probably know it by now. Perhaps a rather obscure memoir called “A London Child of the 1870s,” which describes the author’s very ordinary upbringing in Victorian London. Absolutely nothing remarkable happens, but there is something so charming and real about the characters that by the end of the book you feel like they are your personal friends. Molly Hughes wrote it in part to disprove the idea that quintessential Victorian childhood was stern and gloomy and steeped in punishment—certainly in the book it comes across as one you’d want for your own children, full of friendship, laughter, and scratches.
Which books have made you addicted to psychological tension and crime?
The two authors that made me fall in love with the genre were probably Daphne du Maurier and Agatha Christie. But my entry-level drug, one of the first real “crime stories” I came across, was Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Speckled Band.” My mother read it to me and my sister as a bedtime story when I was about 8 or 9 years old and I had nightmares for weeks. It certainly showed me the power of the imagination!
Who is your favorite fictional detective? And the best villain?
This is very difficult to answer because there are so many excellent possibilities. Sherlock Holmes has to be there to put down so many of the genre’s tropes. Lord Peter Wimsey was one of my first literary crushes. Agatha Christie’s two brilliant outsiders – the war refugee Hercule Poirot and the “superfluous spinster” Miss Marple – both showed that you don’t have to be part of the establishment to make a difference. Chester Himes’ Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones did the same in a powerful way. I honestly don’t think I could pick just one. The best villain is probably easier – I think for me it should be Tom Ripley. I’m not that interested in shadowy Moriartys or psychopathic serial killers. I like antiheroes that let you see through their eyes, the ones you can hate and encourage at the same time. Ripley fits that bill.
What kind of stories are you drawn to? And what do you stay away from?
As a reader, I can read almost anything as long as I feel involved with the characters. I don’t have to admire them; some of my favorite books have very unlikely main characters. But I have to care about them. There are some topics that put me off in a blurb – violence or abuse, especially, especially involving children. As a writer, I suppose what draws me into a story is a riddle or ‘what if’ that resonates with me, and that I want to explore. Some fear or phobia or personal fear of my own has been seeded through the pages of most of my books – some obvious, some maybe not so much. The French writer Colette said, I think in regard to what makes a good writer, “Look long at what gives you pleasure, and longer at what hurts you.” I think that’s good advice, although in my case it’s probably more: look longer at what scares you.
What kind of reader were you as a child?
Gluttonous! And omnivore. I read anything and everything from hard sci-fi to totally inappropriate bonkbusters.
What book would you recommend for the current political moment?
I think empathy is in short supply right now, so probably anything that encourages that. Perhaps SA Cosby’s ‘Razorblade Tears’, which shows two very different men united by their unbearable grief over the loss of their sons, or Kerry Hudson’s memoir ‘Lowborn’, which painfully exposes the reality of the hard choices facing many families.
Which book do you think you should like and not like? Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing it?
I always leave out books. I won’t name them because that feels like implying that it’s the book’s fault, and 99 times out of 100 it isn’t – it just isn’t the right book for me at the time. I sometimes get tweeted by people who don’t like my books but push themselves, and I always want to say don’t do it! I give you permission to stop! That’s very weird; we don’t mind turning off the TV when we’re not enjoying a show, but books are still too often treated like medicine. you have got to finish the course, even if you don’t enjoy it. I believe that books should be nothing more than enriching. That doesn’t always mean fun or easy to read – sometimes a book is shocking or challenging or hard to read. But if you’re not getting anything out of a book, I think you should feel absolutely free to drop it and walk away.
Who would you choose to write your life story?
Me. I would be deeply offended if anyone else tried. I think you probably can’t write a clause in your will that forbids biographies or I’d probably try.
You’re hosting a literary dinner. Which three writers, dead or alive, do you invite?
The temptation here is to say “Chaucer, Shakespeare and Emily Brontë” to show how good you are, and there would certainly be something very fascinating about the chance to solve some of the mysteries of Shakespeare’s life, such as why he his wife left nothing but his second best bed? But honestly I think it would be too much pressure for me to enjoy my food. So, in reality, I think I’d have a better time with just a load of crime writers. It’s really hard to pick just three because what I’d really like to do is have a huge potluck with about 40 writers all sharing ladles and gossip – but I think I’d have a really good time with Clare Mackintosh, Laura Shepherd- Robinson and Abir Mukherjee, and I know they are all foodies, so they would appreciate my cooking.
