Freya North.
While I'm writing a novel, I find it so hard to read fiction as I'm already totally absorbed in the world I'm creating - but I devour non-fiction.
I often read around the subjects and themes of my work in progress. For Little Wing it was guides and histories of
the islands of the Outer Hebrides. But currently I'm writing my 16th novel, which is set in 1980s Manchester at the start of the rave scene - a very different world to far-flung Scottish islands. I'm reading a gorgeous book by the acclaimed journalist Paul Morley called To Manchester With Love, which is his affectionate biography of Tony Wilson, who founded Factory Records and the Hacienda nightclub. I lived in Manchester during this period so I'm feeling very nostalgic.
At Christmas I'm always excited by my mum's presents to me as she is the most widely read bookworm in the world. This year she gave me Mrs. Bridge, by Evan S. Connell. Originally published in 1959 it's such a moving glimpse into the life of a Kansas City housewife told through a series of little vignettes. It's set between the wars and evokes so clearly time and place. It would make a gorgeous movie.
Mum also gave me Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout - I absolutely loved My Name is Lucy Barton and this book is its companion piece. Strout's writing is just staggering - she says so much, in so few words - a skill indeed. I recently finished On Chapel Sands by Laura Cumming, which is a memoir that reads like fiction and I found it hauntingly moving. The author unravels the extraordinary story of her own mother who, as a child in the 1920s, was kidnapped for a few days. It paints an unforgettable picture of village life but more than that it is a love letter to the lost child her mother once was. I have bought umpteen copies of this book as presents for friends.
