Top Five books to Read by Sue Hampton
I choose novels that explore inner lives and relationships, and in which the writing is itself another character. My favourite classic novelist is George Eliot and yes, I'd include Middlemarch in my top five
I choose novels that explore inner lives and relationships, and in which the writing is itself another character. My favourite classic novelist is George Eliot and yes, I'd include Middlemarch in my top five even though I have a passion for Daniel Deronda too: "a flawed masterpiece." For a long time I only read classics but once I discovered contemporary writing I fell for Carol Shields' witty, lyrically naturalistic and warmly intimate studies of family, and Anne Tyler's quirkier work in similar territory which can sometimes make me laugh out loud. I nominate Republic of Love by Shields - a painfully honest love story - and Breathing Lessons by Tyler, one of the funniest and saddest stories I've ever read. In 2016 the novel I experienced most deeply was Marilynne Robinson's Lila, which is a slow and gentle revelation of a human soul, but I've been stirred by its predecessors too; this is a fine and versatile writer. Finally, the other living author with whom I feel a mysterious connection is Susan Fletcher. Again, I've read all her novels, but having recently finished Let Me Tell You About A Man I Knew, I have no hesitation in listing it for its painterly colour, texture and light, its humanity and sensual intensity. I love fiction that illuminates life.
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