Today I’m delighted to welcome author Louise Walters to the blog to help spread a little more #booklove. Before we find out about her favourite childhood reads, here’s a bit about Louise and her books.
About Louise
Louise Walters is the author of Mrs Sinclair’s Suitcase (2014) and A Life Between Us (2017). She lives in Northamptonshire and is working on her third novel.
You can follow Louise at the following links
Website | Twitter
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Mrs Sinclair’s Suitcase
Forgive me, Dorothea, for I cannot forgive you. What you do, to this child, to this child’s mother, it is wrong…
Roberta likes to collect the letters and postcards she finds in second-hand books. When her father gives her some of her grandmother’s belongings, she finds a baffling letter from the grandfather she never knew – dated after he supposedly died in the war.
Dorothy is unhappily married to Albert, who is away at war. When an aeroplane crashes in the field behind her house she meets Squadron Leader Jan Pietrykowski, and as their bond deepens she dares to hope she might find happiness. But fate has other plans for them both, and soon she is hiding a secret so momentous that its shockwaves will touch her granddaughter many years later…
Amazon UK | Amazon US
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A Life Between Us
Tina Thornton’s twin sister Meg died in a childhood accident, but for almost forty years Tina has secretly blamed herself for her sister’s death. During a visit to her aging Uncle Edward and his sister Lucia, who both harbour dark secrets of their own, Tina makes a discovery that forces her to finally question her memories of the day her sister died.
Who, if anyone, did kill Meg? As Tina finds the courage to face the past, she unravels the tangled family mysteries of her estranged parents, her beautiful French Aunt Simone, the fading, compassionate Uncle Edward, and above all, the cold, bitter Aunt Lucia, whose spectral presence casts a long shadow over them all.
A Life Between Us is a beautifully evocative story of a family torn apart at the seams, which will appeal to readers who enjoy family sagas and modern-day mysteries.
Amazon UK | Amazon US
Childhood Sweetheart
Favourite book from childhood
I read so many books as a child, but one I’ve never forgotten is Come Back, Lucy by Pamela Sykes. I still have my copy and I’ve re-read it every December for the past three years. It’s an eerie ghost story, set in December, and I think it’s a wonderful novel. Sadly, it’s out of print, but it shouldn’t be. A classic.
First love
The first book you fell in love with
I think mine must be Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. When I was about 14 years old, a friend of mine was reading it and she recommended it. It was my first proper “grown up” book, and I loved it. Many of my friends did. It’s a rite of passage novel for many, I think
Biggest book crush
The book character you’re totally in love with
Well, it can only be Mr Rochester, can’t it? He made me go weak at the knees when I was 14… and he still does!
Weirdest book crush
Well… duh
Hmm. I don’t think I have one!
Hardest break up
The book you didn’t want to end
That’s a recent one for me: Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift. It totally blew me away on my first read, and I had to read it again straight away. It’s so short and ends far too quickly… but it’s perfect. It doesn’t need to be any longer. It’s one of the most moving and powerful books I’ve read. It’s become a firm favourite, literally overnight
The one that got away
The book in your TBR or wish list that you regret not having started yet.
I’ve yet to read Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I love the Emma Thompson film, I’ve watched it many times, but have never got round to the book. I really must!
Secret love
Guilty Reading pleasure
I tend to read literary-ish stuff, books with “literary merit”, whatever that truly means… a certain quality to the writing, I suppose! But I love an Agatha Christie. It’s a relief to pick one up and be transported to her “cosy crime” world…although I’m not sure what’s cosy about characters being shot, poisoned and stabbed!
Love one, love them all
Favourite series or genre
I’m currently reading my way through Elena Ferrante’s Neopolitan quartet. They are extraordinary novels… on the one hand the characters are basically all pretty unlikeable, on the other I just can’t put the books down. It’s a strange experience. I think I love the series… but I’m not sure!
Your latest squeeze
Favourite read of the last 12 months
Oh, that’s Mothering Sunday, as already mentioned. I want everybody else to read it and love it as much as I did. It’s one of those, for me.
Blind date for a friend
If you were to set a friend up with a blind date (book) which one would it be?
That depends on the friend… but something like Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple would be a great choice, because it’s funny, fresh and easy going.
Greatest love of all
Favourite book of all time.
For years it was Jane Eyre, but nowadays it’s Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively. It’s a wonderful novel, right up my street – short, bittersweet, full of philosophy and ideas, with a dramatic romance, unforgettable characters and a story to die for. It’s as close to perfect as a novel can get.
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Thanks Louise. Some really great choices in there including some of the classics. I used to love reading a bit of Agatha Christie as a child, especially those Miss Marple books. Such a sharp woman that one.
What do you think folks? Do any of these books make your personal reading lists? Was Mr Rochester your heart throb too?
Do make sure to join me on Saturday when blogger Abbie Rutherford of Bloomin’ Brilliant Books will be spilling the beans on all of her #booklove confessions.
Have a fabulous week of reading all
Jen
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