WHATBOOK..?
...are you reading now?
THE Chain by Adrian McKinty. It’s about a mother whose teenage daughter is kidnapped and, in order to save her, she has to continue the chain by kidnapping another child.
I like the premise — I think it’s clever — and, unsurprisingly, the film rights have been bought up.
I’ve just finished reading a novella by Karin Slaughter and Lee Child entitled Cleaning The Gold, a collaboration that actually had me dancing.
These are two of my favourite authors, I look forward to their novels every year — one for my summer holiday, one as my birthday present — so to read Jack Reacher and Will Trent in the same story blew my mind. I hope more authors do this, I think it’s exciting.
. . . would you take to a desert island?
THE Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is one of my favourite novels. I read it 15 years ago and was so moved by the writing and inspired by its unique creativity. It combines all the things I love about books: dark, twisted, unique and moving.
It’s about a woman whose husband has a rare genetic disorder that means his body clock resets itself, causing him to jump back and forth through time.
It is dark and deeply romantic and, while it’s surreal, it feels real, thanks to the grounded emotions and characters. It’s beautifully written, with many layers and, as their lives twist around each other, from childhood to death, it means that you can read it a few times and gain more understanding. Probably just what you’d need on a desert island.
...first gave you the reading bug?
AS A young child, I loved Enid Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree, then moved on to The Famous Five series. From the age of ten, I was reading Sweet Valley Twins, Sweet Valley High by Francine Pascal and The Baby-Sitters Club by Ann M. Martin.
As these series of books were numbered, I made it my mission to work my way through them all, swapping and sharing with a group of friends. This fed my love of books.
However, Under The Hawthorn Tree by Marita Conlon-McKenna is the standout book from my childhood — as it is for many Irish schoolchildren. It touched me deeper than any other book I’d read.
It’s the story of three children during the Irish famine who are struggling to survive and find their way to their parents. It was a real eye-opener.
. . . left you cold?
AS MUCH as I admire Gillian Flynn and have enjoyed all her books, I could have thrown Gone Girl at the wall when I was finished. I still recommend the book, as there’s so much to admire and enjoy.
And, as much as Jane Austen’s fans will hate me for this, I really can’t read her novels. Her writing is simply not for me.
POSTSCRIPT, the sequel to PS, I Love You by Cecelia Ahern will be published by Harper Collins on September 19 at £20.