Best books… Emma Kennedy
The author, screenwriter and broadcaster chooses her six favourite books. Her new memoir, Letters from Brenda (Hodder £16.99) – a bittersweet exploration of her relationship with her mother – is out now
Swimming Home by Deborah Levy, 2011 (And Other Stories £8.99). Levy is my favourite modern writer – her work is forever fresh and beautiful. This novel is a masterclass in character, with a story that pulls the rug out from under your feet. Made me gasp it was so brilliant.
Delicacy: A Memoir about Cake and Death by Katy Wix, 2021 (Headline £9.99). I read this just after I’d finished Letters From Brenda and found it mesmerising and comforting in equal measure; 21 moments in a life that define love, trauma, darkness and hope.
Reasons to be Cheerful by Nina Stibbe, 2019 (Penguin £8.99). Stibbe is one of our greatest comic novelists and I absolutely loved this third part of her Lizzie Vogel trilogy, a novel about love, lust and social angst set against the backdrop of a dental surgery. Her eye for detail is unmatched and there’s one chapter where I thought I was going to be sick I was laughing so much.
My Mess is a Bit of a Life by Georgia Pritchett, 2021 (Faber £9.99). From the writer of Succession, a memoir like no other, rammed with anecdotes that will leave you breathless with laughter one minute, then wiping away tears the next. She has managed to turn living with anxiety into an absolute riot.
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene, 1951 (Vintage £8.99). I’m re-reading all of Greene’s novels and it’s astounding how efficiently written they are. This one is the best, I think, brimming with pain and rage. If you ever have aspirations to write a novel, read Greene. He’s the perfect writer’s writer.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 1943 (Wordsworth £2.99). Two things that always floor me: loneliness and kindness. I can cope with neither, but this beautiful novella, of the lonely prince visiting planets, is one of the greatest books you’ll ever read about friendship, love and loss. A masterpiece.
Titles in print are available from The Week Bookshop on 020-3176 3835. For out-of-print books visit biblio.co.uk