WHATBOOK..?

. . . are you reading now?

AFTER The End by Clare Mackintosh — the story of a couple who disagree about their sick son’s medical treatment. I’ve just started it, but I know I’ll soon be crying my heart out.

. . . would you take to a desert island?

DECLINE And Fall by Evelyn Waugh, because I would laugh and laugh. I’d take comfort in Waugh’s perfect portrait of human fallibility and pretension, seeing myself as a Paul Pennyfeather figure, hapless and abandoned.

. . . first turned you on to reading?

ONE of Enid Blyton’s Adventure Series — I think The Valley Of Adventure was my favourite. We still quote Kiki the parrot: ‘Fusty, musty, dusty!’ (which our house is).

. . . left you cold?

WHEN everyone was hooked on The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, I was staying very quiet in the corner — I had tried over and over to get into it, but could never get past the first few pages.

Louise will be appearing on september 27 at Capital Crime, London’s inaugural crime festival, which runs from september 26 to 28. For details and tickets, visit capitalcrime.org. Her new novel, Those People, will be published by simon & schuster on June 27.