GERALDINE BROOKS

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author delivers a new work of historical fiction

Does your new novel Horse have a real historical basis?

It’s based on the extraordinary true story of a record-breaking 1850s racehorse, Lexington, the fate of the horse during and after the American Civil War, and all the art and science this one horse has inspired.

Is there a book that made you love writing?

More than one. We went to the local library every Saturday when I was a kid and it was like going to a feast. I loved losing myself in all the other worlds those books contained.

What’s the best book you’ve read?

The most perfect novel I have read is Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. It’s somehow simultaneously both intimate and vast.

A book that had a pivotal impact on your life?

The Overstory by Richard Powers changed the way I look at the natural world.

The book you couldn’t finish? Moby Dick. Still trying.

What book do you re-read?

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel because it is perfect historical fiction.

A book you wish you had read but haven’t got to?

I feel like I should whisper this, blushing: Jane Eyre.

The book you are most proud to have written?

That perfect one that I have yet to write.

Your earliest reading memory?

My dad reading to me at bedtime. A favourite: Scruffy by Paul Gallico, about the apes of Gibraltar during World War II.

What books are on your bedside table?

Independent People by Halldor Laxness (for my book group this month). A Swim in the Pond in the Rain by George Saunders (for craft inspiration). Return to Uluru by Mark Mckenna, which I blazed through in two sittings a couple of weeks ago and haven’t shelved yet.

What are you writing next?

Shhh … it’s a secret.

Horse, by Geraldine Brooks: Hachette, $40, out now