My Life in Books is an occasional feature on Random Things Through My Letterbox
I've asked authors and people in publishing to share with us a list of the books that are important to them and have made a lasting impression on their life
I'm really thrilled to welcome author Ali Land to Random Things today. Ali's debut novel, Good Me, Bad Me was published by Penguin on 12 January 2017. I read and reviewed it here on Random Things back in December last year. It's an amazing read, here's a snippet from my review:"Original, intelligent and so very tense. Good Me, Bad Me is a psychological thriller that will leave the reader wondering, and questioning every character.
Ali Land is a talented, imaginative author, this is certainly going to be one of THE books of 2017."
After graduating from university with a degree in Mental Health, Ali Land spent a
decade working as a Child and Adolescent
Mental Health Nurse in both hospitals and schools in the UK and Australia.
Ali is now a full-time writer and lives in West London
Follow her on Twitter @byAliLand
My Life In Books ~ Ali Land
I longed to be in Jo,
Bessie and Fanny’s gang. They had an enchanted forest, a gigantic magical tree
and a colourful group of extraordinary friends with names like Moonface and
Dame Washalot. Blyton’s writing lit so much magic in me as a child and even now
as an adult, I love reading her books and when I share them with little people
I know, I can see her stories working their magic all over again.
It wasn’t just the horror
of this story – the abuse, the betrayal, the violence – that kept me turning
the pages, it was the intensity of the sibling relationships that resonated with
me. I was twelve when I read this and I’d been at boarding school since I was
nine. As one of the youngest at my school I’d experienced being ‘parented’ by
other children, and as I got older, I too became a ‘parent’ to the younger ones.
Cathy and Chris turning the attic into an imaginary garden for their siblings
made so much sense to me, and the strength of the bonds they formed, their
bravery, their sadness and the love they felt for each other was comforting and
familiar.
My English teacher gave
this to me to ‘stretch my curious mind,’ and boy did it ever. Philosophical in
nature, and set in medieval times on a Mediterranean island, Walsh tackles the
notion of whether the knowledge of god is innate. Reading it made me question
why we believe the things we do, and highlighted the cruelties that happen in
the name of religion. I felt outrage and sadness and love, especially for
Amara, a feral child raised by wolves that the church use in an experiment. It was
this book that piqued my interest in how children survive extraordinary
circumstances.
One of my favourite
books of all time. I remember reading it and looking at my classmates and
wondering what would happen if it was us that were stranded on an island. What
would I be capable of? What would they? It led me to think about forgiveness.
Could a child be forgiven for doing something dreadful if it was in an attempt to
survive their circumstances? This notion went on to become one of the central
themes in my debut novel, and Golding inspires me to be provocative and bold in
what I explore in my writing.
The first book to truly
terrify yet absolutely thrill me. I used to read passages out to my dorm mates,
cue faux-hysteria and screaming! FBI agent Clarice Starling fast became one of
my heroes. The relationship between her and serial killer Lecter, and the
conversations they have is pure genius. In Lecter, Harris constructs a
character hair-raisingly dangerous, yet one that’s almost impossible not to
admire for his twisted intellectual finesse. The tension never lets up, and clearly
my predilection for the darker read began at a very young age, because even
though I feared for Clarice’s safety and sanity, and perhaps even my own while
reading it, I couldn’t help but read on.
The opening line to
Lolita, that’s all it took for me to fall madly, deeply in love with this book.
Granted, it took me years after university to unpick the genius in it, the
wordplay, the literary allusions, the phonetics, the double consonants, the
references to Edgar Alan Poe and so on. Nabokov’s glee at alchemising language
shines throughout and I suppose, part of the appeal also, was that the subject
matter was so taboo and shocking. I felt almost criminal reading it, and it wasn’t
until I reached my early twenties that I met other people who had not only read
it but loved it like I did.
I was twenty-six and
had just bought a one way ticket to Australia and this was the book I took in
my hand luggage. Cassandra was the most welcome and magical travelling
companion. Her sweet and astute commentary on her chaotic, bohemian family
nudged its way into my heart. There are so many layers of love and hope in this
story, and it left me feeling brave and excited for the new life I was
embarking on.
At Sydney Children’s
Hospital, where I worked as a nurse, there is a group of very special ladies
who volunteer as Ward Grannies. They spend hours cuddling and reading to the
children whose families can’t always be there, and it was through them that I
discovered The Velveteen Rabbit. It tells the story of a toy rabbit who wishes
he could become real. He has a wise and kind mentor called Skin Horse and a
magical fairy who kisses him and grants his wish. It’s such a beautiful love
story that every time I read it, it reminds me that books can often be the best
medicine.
When I signed with my
agent, Juliet Mushens, she said, ‘I think I know a book you’d really like.’ Well,
she was right. We Have Always Lived in the Castle is now, and always will be,
in my top five books. I have such admiration for Jackson’s writing, the perfect
restraint she executes, slowly lifting the curtain on the bizarre daily routine
Merricat, her sister Constance and their uncle share. The narrative is peppered
with magical thinking and superstitions which gives the overriding sense
they’re content in this strange existence and because of this, the insanity
drips off the pages. Jackson is one of the best examples of an author who leaves
as much ‘unsaid’ as possible and I aspire to do the same in my writing.
Poetry and me have only
recently become friends, but what an intense friendship it has been over the
past year, so much so that I would choose this collection of poems as my Desert
Island book. There’s a beautiful devastation in the way Sexton writes, the language,
whilst often simple is arranged in such a way it feels like an arrow to the
heart. I feel changed when I read her work, as if I understand things better,
like my insides have somehow shifted. Opened. I feel myself drift when I read
poetry and I love being able to dip in and out, it’s like a shot of tequila for
me, I don’t want it all the time but when I have it, I’m like ‘oh yeh, that’s
the one.’
Ali Land ~ March 2017
Anne, your review and Ali's book choices make me push Good Me, Bad Me to the top of my must-read list. Great blog post!
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