- Is an author and writer. Although she has no real connection to the area, she was the focus of a very successful author event at North Lincolnshire Central Library in 2006.
My all time favourite five reads are…
- Olivia Manning’s The Balkan Trilogy (and the second lot, the Levant Trilogy) was what saved me from going mad from boredom when I was living with a boyfriend who was posted to Dubai in 1983. There was nothing to do there then, and certainly no cinemas for example. So I savoured this incredible story of a couple trapped in Romania at the outset of WW2, which is full of great characters and, alongside the unfolding nightmare of dark forces taking over, truly wonderful humour. It is definitely the most underrated book about that time.
- Florence King, who wrote Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady, is my spiritual godmother. My sister, who’s a novelist, (Claire Calman) introduced me to her work, and as well as being a stunning writer – very simple with beautiful phrasing – King is one of the few writers who has made me wet myself laughing.
- David Sedaris, another American, is I think the finest practitioner of the short humorous piece. And this, the opener to one of his stories, is the most wonderful first sentence I have ever read: ‘I was on the front porch at 3am drowning a mouse in a bucket, when this van stopped by which was strange.’
- My brother in law, who’s a publisher, gave me a handwritten notice someone put through his door in North London. It has a mobile phone number and reads: ‘If you need cleaning and irony call Katya.’ It was destined to end up on the pinboard of my study where I can gaze at it and think what a wonderful service it would be for writers everywhere.
- When my husband was working in Japan he brought back a laundry bag from his hotel room. It was labelled: ‘Please put laundry in bag and hand over the bellboy’ and became a favourite joke between us.
My favourite word is…
B*******. Am I allowed to say that in a library? Perhaps if I whisper it…. ?
(Find the meaning in the Oxford English Dictionary)
My favourite book from my childhood was…
At age nine, Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield – the recent TV version did nothing to show why it’s a classic, plus all of E Nesbit eg The Phoenix & The Carpet, and Five Children & It. At age 12, I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith, and The Diary of Anne Frank. One of my first jobs was in a bookshop. I was meant to be writing my own book, but spent most of the day reading my way through the children’s section instead. The choice these days for six to 12-year-olds is just amazing.
The last thing I read before answering these questions was…
An article about a captured terrorist in a copy of The Times I stole from a restaurant. Because his computer was still on when they arrested him, they were able to identify his entire network. In the current climate of fear, it made me feel more optmistic.
My favourite place to read would be…
It was last summer, next to the pool at a little hotel in France. It had a small enclosed courtyard with lemon trees, very low key. When the white wine arrived at six o’clock, my happiness was complete.
If I could only read one last thing in my life it would be…
The notebook in which I keep the funny and amazing things my children have said.