Irene Sabatini: The Book That…
What do writers read? Irene Sabatini, whose debut novel The Boy Next Door has just been published, tells us about the books that have made her laugh, cry, kept her awake at night, and more.
The book that I first loved…
Shane by Jack Schaefer. I read it as a schoolgirl in Bulawayo and I remember being enthralled by this story of a lone cowboy riding into a homestead and a young boy’s fascination with this man of a few words and deadly with his well-oiled Colt.
I keep by my bedside…
The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris, which I have just finished reading: chilling, heartbreaking and beautiful; an examination of what it is to be human. Transcendent!
I want to read next is…
Jean Jacques Rousseau, Restless Genius by Leo Damrosch.
I recommend to everyone is…
Lives of the Monster Dogs by Kirsten Bakis. A wonderfully quirky, richly imagined tale of dogs in top hats. Full of pathos.
I loved as a child…
The Secret Seven by Enid Blyton. And I did try to form my very own club in the school playground under the noses of the nuns of the Dominican convent school in Bulawayo.
Kept me awake at night…
Where Blue Begins by Janice Deaner. Cinematic in tone and scope with a very harrowing scene at the core of it.
Made me laugh…
About a Boy by Nick Hornby.
Made me cry…
Falling Leaves: The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter, by Adeline Yen Mah.
Changed my life…
The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir.
Opened my horizons…
East of Eden by John Steinbeck.
I would steal from my children…
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (1, 2, 3 and 4) by Jeff Kinney.
