Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
by John Le Carré
Anyone who writes about closed societies and inner sanctums will recognise Le Carré’s insight into power. His dialogue perfectly captures class and attitude, and his slang is stunningly inventive — ‘scalphunters’, ‘moles’ and ‘babysitters’ were all his coinings. In every way, he is a writer perfectly matched to his subject; the deep machinery of his labyrinthine plots mirrors precisely the deep machinations of his spies. In this, his masterpiece, the melancholy watchfulness of Smiley and the silky smoothness of Bill Haydon, modelled on Kim Philby, are triumphant, but Le Carré’s dingy, post-Imperial Britain is his greatest creation.
As It Was and World Without End
by Helen Thomas — out of print
The brilliant nature poet, Edward Thomas, was tortured by depression and only began writing poetry in a burst of genius before his early death in WWI. This memoir by his wife, Helen, of their courtship and turbulent marriage, conjures a vanished world. Her voice is intimate, tender and unforgettable.
The Transit of Venus
by Shirley Hazzard
Astonishingly underrated, but venerated by many, Shirley Hazzard’s writing is close to music in its emotional effect and the way it lingers in the mind. Two Australian sisters, Caro and Grace, come to Britain and make contrasting choices in their careers and relationships. The slow burning love affairs, terrible secrets and unrequited love are rendered in exquisite prose.
The Cazalet Chronicles
by Elizabeth Jane Howard
The Holy Grail for anyone wanting an immersive read and the books I most often press on friends. These five novels follow an upper middle class Home Counties family from the 1930s to the 1960s. Drawn from Howard’s own life, this is a detailed, absorbing saga of three generations that rings completely true to its time and place.
Learning To Swim
by Clare Chambers — out of print
The perfect introduction to this marvellous writer who is often compared to Barbara Pym, but I’d say outdoes her. The suburban settings are part nostalgia, part wry comedy, and her superb characterisation renders perfectly the awkwardness of family life and growing up.
They Were Sisters
by Dorothy Whipple
Dorothy Whipple was famous in the 1950s but fell into obscurity before being rediscovered by Persephone Books. This novel traces the relationship of three sisters and a badly dysfunctional marriage. The idea of being trapped, at a time when divorce was almost unthinkable, is a recurrent theme. Despite the domestic setting, Whipple’s psychological observation, watchfulness and simmering tension would not be out of place in a spy novel.
The Diary of a Nobody
by George and Weedon Grossmith
The theme of my novel, Widowland, is that some English classics are etched too deeply in the popular consciousness to erase. This is one of them. In the figure of lowly clerk Charles Pooter, and his friends Cummings and Gowing, this hilarious novel captures not only an entire way of life, but true Britishness, with all its social humiliations, gaffes and status anxiety.
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Brontë
Many writers owe a debt to Jane Eyre, the most famous novel about female empowerment. Its theme of a poor woman marrying rich man with a secret has been rewritten time and again, most notably in Rebecca. Modern readers might say that the central story of Jane Eyre is not the love story between Jane and Mr Rochester, but the way that Jane falls in love with herself, and comes to see her own value.
