MARIAN KEYES
The best-selling author has sold more than 33 million copies of her books. With her latest release, Grown Ups, out now, the 56-year-old tells WHO about the book that …
… she loved as a child
I adored Enid Blyton books, especially Mallory Towers and The Twins at St Clare’s.
… she read as a teenager despite it being meant for adults
Gone with the Wind. I loved the epic sweep of it and I really loved Scarlett O’Hara. It was very refreshing, even empowering to read a woman who was so selfish. I was too young to understand sexism – that trope that girls must always be ‘nice’ – but I know I felt reassured that there were other ways to be a woman. … inspired her to write
Fabulous Nobodies by Lee Tulloch (she’s Australian!) and Heartburn by Nora Ephron; the early Jilly Cooper books – the titles were girls’ names: Octavia, Harriet. I adored them. … recently made her cry
Gravity is the Thing by Jaclyn Moriarty. One of my most favourite books of all time.
… has terrified her
None, to be honest. I read a huge amount of crime but for some reason I’m never afraid it will happen to me. Maybe I should be … … she gives as a present to friends
At the moment, the book I’m giving every woman I know is Three Women by Lisa Taddeo.
… she has just released
Grown Ups is about three brothers and their various wives, ex-wives and adult stepchildren. On the surface, all get on well; beneath the surface, things are murkier. Everything stays civilised until a dinner when one of the wives blurts out a secret.