WHATBOOK..? FERN BRITTON

Broadcaster and author

. . . are you reading now?

ELEANOR Oliphant Is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman. Eleanor is not the easiest of women to get to understand, but then — BOOM — she has you. As her story unfolds, we see why she is so desperate to connect with the real word, and yet so baffled by it. By the end, you just love her.

. . . would you take to a desert island?

MATRIARCH: Queen Mary And The House Of Windsor, by Anne Edwards. I have it by my bed, waiting to be read.

She is our Queen’s grandmother and her story is intriguing: she was first betrothed to the Duke of Clarence, then when he died she married his younger brother, who became King George V.

She was serious, fun-loving and a good wife and mother. And she had a glamorous ocean liner named after her.

. . . first gave you the reading bug?

ENID BLYTON. Everything she wrote, I loved. Malory Towers, The Adventure Series, The Mystery Series. I was mystified when she was banned from libraries and delighted when she was reinstated. Hooray for Enid!

. . . left you cold?

THE Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings. I tried. Somehow, they weren’t magical enough for me. I was very much a Chronicles Of Narnia girl. COMING Home, by Fern Britton, is published on February 22 by HarperCollins at £12.99