WHAT BOOK..?

...are you reading now?

THE Governess by Wendy Holden, which is published in August. This is a brilliantly researched, fictionalised account of the life of Marion Crawford, who for 17 years was governess to Princess Elizabeth (now the Queen) and Princess Margaret.

She found the Royal Family hopelessly remote from everyday life and made it her mission to give the Princesses as ordinary a childhood as possible, considering the extreme limitations. She was by their side throughout the 1936 Abdication crisis, the subsequent coronation of their parents and World War II.

Sacrificing her own personal life, this very ordinary Scottish woman helped shape a much-admired Queen and perhaps gently nudged the monarchy towards increased empathy and modernisation. I was completely absorbed and transported.

...would you take to a desert island?

HILARY MANTEL’S brilliant Wolf Hall trilogy. Technically three books, I know, but maybe I can bend the rules as it is one complete story.

And what a story! It’s the life of the lowborn Thomas Cromwell who rose to dizzy heights in Henry VIII’s court. This is a defining portrait of one of the most skilful and visionary politicians in history, but also one of the most frightening and ruthless of men. An exquisite account of the life of a man who was both predator and prey.

I can’t choose between these masterpieces, but I know I could read and reread any one of them and still be enthralled.

...first gave you the reading bug?

BOOKS were the first love of my life. I always preferred them to dolls, skipping ropes, riding my bike etc. Given a choice, from as young as four or five, I’d rather read a book than do anything else. I can’t remember exactly which book made this happen, but I do know there were always books in our home and we were taken on regular trips to the library. Books are transportive, powerful; they make everything possible.

My childhood favourites included Enid Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree and The Wishing-Chair, collections which struck me as the most fabulous form of adventure. They gave me access to extraordinary, limitless worlds.

...left you cold?

AMERICAN Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis scared the life out of me. It was published in 1991 — I had just graduated and was working in advertising in London when my trendy co-workers urged me to read this groundbreaking novel that critics were raving about. It was considered transgressive and postmodern, seminal.

The story is told in the first person by Patrick Bateman, a Manhattan investment banker who is also a serial killer.

Apparently, some countries sold it shrinkwrapped because it was considered so potentially disturbing.

Indeed! I remember having to put it aside on a couple of occasions because I felt incredibly vulnerable and afraid.

It wasn’t for me, but I do recognise that it was a powerful novel to have had that impact on me.

n AdELE PArks is author of Just My Luck published by HQ HarperCollins in hardback, £12.99, ebook and audiobook.