BOOKS Q&A: Tracy Chevalier

FEATURES 12/20

Tracy Chevalier is the author of ten novels, including At the Edge of the Orchard, Remarkable Creatures and Girl with a Pearl Earring, an international bestseller that has sold over five million copies and won the Barnes and Noble Discover Award. Born in Washington DC, in 1984 she moved to London, where she lives with her husband and son.

Name  a book which…

. . . inspired you as a child

Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery. I remember reading it while sick and loving Anne’s shenanigans, her imagination, her fierce loyalty, and above all, her resilience in the face of a tough start in life.

. . . . inspires you now

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim. This was one of the few books I read during lockdown that I couldn’t wait to get back to every evening. Four disparate women share a castle in Italy for a month and their lives are changed. Apart from the gorgeous descriptions and the humour, it is very good on the transformative effects of a change of scene – something we have all longed for in 2020.

. . . surprised you

The White Bones by Barbara Gowdy. This novel is told from inside the mind of a herd of elephants and is wonderfully different. Afterwards I felt I really understood how elephants must think even though really we don’t know at all.

. . . makes you cry

The Optician of Lampedusa by Emma Jane Kirby tells the true story of a man who with his friends one day comes across a shipwrecked boat full of drowning migrants from North Africa. They save as many as they can get onto their fishing boat, but hundreds die in the water around them. It changes the way he looks at migrants and his life, and it changed me too. A heartbreaking and essential book. 

. . . makes you laugh

 The Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith. Mr Pooter is a wonderfully unaware Victorian chap whose clever son Lupin runs rings round him. His obtuseness always cheers me.

. . . makes you think until your head hurts

Six Easy Pieces by Richard Feynman. My son is headed towards a career in theoretical physics and recommended this book of essays on physics as a good way to begin to understand what he loves. It starts out reasonably comprehensible but after a while I find myself staring off into space and trying to figure out what he’s on about.

. . .you’ve always meant to read but never quite got around to 

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. This classic novel is a must-read if you want historical perspective about racism in America. I am embarrassed I haven’t cracked it, and will rectify that now!

. . . you couldn’t finish

So many books…Most recently, The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel. This final book in the Thomas Cromwell trilogy is beautifully written but it’s just too long. Maybe when the news is less distracting I’ll be able to concentrate for 1000 pages.

. . . you recommend to others

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. Many rightly talk about Beloved as her masterpiece, but I adored this earlier novel about a black family struggling in 1950s America. Shot through with magic realism and the most gorgeous, poetic writing, it opened me right up to the power of imagery when I read it aged 20.

. . . made you miss your bus/tram/train stop

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I didn’t miss my stop, but I went from the tube to my office reading as I walked – something I hadn’t done since childhood – and finally standing outside the building to finish it, because I was desperate to find out if Elinor and Edward get together.