KATIE FFORDE

. . . are you reading now?

DEAR Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce — it’s a wonderful wartime story that is funny, yet poignant and realistic. I can’t wait for the next in the series.

. . . would you take to a desert island?

THE Albatross Book Of Verse, a school prize. It has all my favourites and yet has enough poems I haven’t read to keep me going for a few years.

. . . first gave you the reading bug?

THE Story Of King Arthur And His Knights. I used to act out the stories with my little friends. I never wanted to play a girl: I was Sir Galahad.

. . . left you cold?

CAPTAIN CORELLI’S Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres. I really wanted to love this, as so many people did. But, although the writing was beautiful and the characters enchanting, I just got bogged down in it and couldn’t progress. A COUNTRY Escape by Katie Fforde is published by Century at £12.99.