Santa MonteFiore

Novelist Santa lives in London with her writer husband Simon and their two children. Where are you going? To a very luxurious – and top secret – place in Turkey. I’ve been to the

LifeCo in Bodrum before with some girlfriends, which is a rather hardcore retreat, but I haven’t been to this place that we’ve booked into with the family. I’m really looking forward to it, and I will be taking lots of books, as always. I don’t get enough time to read at home, so the two weeks I lie on the beach is the one time I can read for pleasure, rather than research.

What will you be reading? A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne. His previous book, The Heart’s Invisible Furies, is one of the best books I’ve ever read, so I’m going to read his new one. I also have Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman on my list. I think Neil is a genius. I read American Gods last summer and was blown away by the brilliance of it. The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd was recommended to me by a man I met at dinner. I’ve already read the first few chapters and I know I’m going to love it. Lastly, I’ll be reading Becoming Supernatural by Joe Dispenza, which I read once before. It’s about how the mind can heal the body and create the future you want. Joe is extraordinary. ✢ The Secret Hours by Santa Montefiore is published on 11 July (Simon & Schuster).

‘The two weeks I lie on the beach is the one time I can read for pleasure’