What book would author Joanna Cannon take to a desert island?

. . . are you reading now

There are two books on my bedside table. The Water Pact by Abraham Verghese is a multi-generational story set in India about a family that bears a curse: in every generation, at least one person dies from drowning.

I’ve never had the privilege of visiting India, but the writing is so beautiful and so sensual, I feel as if I did.

The other is The End Of Us by Olivia Kiernan (released in June). Every third book I read seems to be a thriller because it’s one of my favorite genres, and this is a very dark and meandering story involving a troubled husband, his high-maintenance wife, and his new neighbors who seem too good to be true.

Just my cup of tea.

. . . Will you be taken to a desert island?

If I was only going to read one book, over and over for the rest of my life, it would have to be Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca.

I love all of du Maurier’s novels – in the nicest way possible, she’s an expert at manipulating the reader – but Rebecca is the perfect story of the perfect narrator, and every time I read her, I find something new, which is definitely something to keep in mind if you only have one book on hand.

Also, sitting under a palm tree while strolling the aisles of Manderley seems perfect to me, even if I’m accompanied by Mrs. Danvers.

Joanna says Little Women gave her the wrong reading first

. . . The first one who gave you the reading bug?

I spent many hours of my childhood in the local library and every week replenished Little Women, because I did not quite understand the fact that there was more than one copy in the world, nor could I bear the thought of them living in someone else’s house. So the credit for my insatiable reading habits must go to Louisa M. Alcott (with an honorary mention for anything to do with Narnia).

. . . I left you cold

The joys of school and English lessons meant we had to read books that we might not necessarily have chosen for ourselves. Least fun for me was D.H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers (so much so that if I saw him on the bookshelf at Waterstones, my mind still shudders a little).

I feel so bad about this—not least because Lawrence was born not too far from where I live, so we’re kind of neighbours—but also because books read in childhood definitely need a second air.

I hated Wuthering Heights as a kid, fell in love with Heathcliff as a teenager, and saw through it as an adult. Stories bring us different treasure at different times, and I think that’s one of the really great things about reading.

A Tidy Ending by Joanna Cannon now out in paperback, published by Borough Press at £8.99.