MONICA ALI

The British author whose work includes Booker Prize-shortlisted Brick Lane, is back after a decade

Is Love Marriage a novel for the times, as Covid forces us to examine our home lives?

I’d like to think it’s a novel for anyone who’s ever been in a relationship, or has any experience of being part of a family that’s less than perfect. And I guess the pandemic has put extra pressures on both families and relationships, so yes!

Is there a book that made you love writing?

The Muddle-headed Wombat, which was based on an Australian radio children’s series from the 1950s. I remember discovering the adventures of Wombat and friends (Mouse and Tabby Cat) at about seven years old in the local library, and howling with laughter.

What’s the best book you’ve read? I’d pick different books on different days, but today I’ll say A House for Mr Biswas by V.S. Naipaul because it is the best tragi-comedy ever written. It’s also a sideways look at colonialism, race, and religion. And the story of one man’s struggle to carve out, against the odds, his own place in the world.

A book that had a pivotal impact on your life?

In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Maté is a radical reframing of how we view all human development. Maté’s focus is on the psychology of addiction, but the stories he tells about his patients and his incredible insight and compassion combine to reveal how addiction actually runs on a continuum through our society.

The book you couldn’t finish?

There are so many! Life is short so I never waste time finishing a book just for the sake of finishing. There are so many brilliant books I still haven’t read, it would be mad to let a mediocre one get in the way.

A book you wish you had read but haven’t got to?

I haven’t read Proust. I feel that I should have. Maybe that’s why I haven’t.

The book you are most proud to have written?

Right now, it’s Love Marriage, because it’s been 10 years since my last book, and for some time I believed I’d never write another novel. I’m proud that I managed to put my fears aside and finish it.

Your earliest reading memory? Sitting on my mother’s knee and with Barbar The Elephant.

What book do you re-read?

The Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard are my favourite comfort reading. Five volumes of sprawling family saga spanning from the 1930s to 1950s.

What books are on your bedside table?

At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop, Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong, and Scary Monsters by Michelle De Kretser, which I am absolutely loving.

What are you writing now?

I’m adapting Love Marriage for television with New Pictures. I’m so happy to be spending more time with (characters) Yasmin and Joe!

Love Marriage by Monica Ali is out now (Virago, $33)