The Orange Prize for Fiction winner lists some of her favorites.
It made her the youngest ever winner of the British writing award.
Leonardo Cendamo/Getty; Random House
My favorite book as a child
Fantastic Mr. Foxby Roald Dahl.
Tea Obreht; The Morningside.Leonardo Cendamo/Getty; Random House
That was what I read in secret.
The book I loved in school
To Kill a Mockingbird.That was my introduction to American literature.
We read it toward the end of middle school.
Penguin Young Readers Group
But I remember reading it and being very moved.
A book that changed my life
The Master and Margaritaby Mikhail Bulgakov.
I had believed that as I matured as a reader, things would become more realist.
Grove Press
By the time I read it, that was certainly the case in school curriculums everything was very realist.
I realized that serious literature for adults could feature this, and that there were no rules.
And I remember reading it and being like, “Oh, I can see what he’s doing.
‘The Bluest Eye’ by Toni Morrison.Vintage
And I don’t see people do that very often and it really works.”
So, that’s my most recent cementing.
A book I’ve read over and over
I’ve readThe Bluest Eyeover and over again.
‘A Prayer for the Dying’ by Stuart Nan.Picador
This is one of those books that I read it when I was too young to understand.
Vintage
A classic you’re embarrassed to say you’ve never read
Oliver Twistby Charles Dickens.
There’s many aspects ofOliver Twistand a lot of characters that become shorthand for certain occupations in society.
‘White Fang’ by Jack London.
I’ve definitely called people behind their backs like, “Well, he’s an artful Dodger.”
Without having read this book.
It’s fantastically written.
I have to cut myself off.
“Here are three semicolons.
We’re good.”
That was defining for me.
A book I wish I’d written
The Haunting of Hill Houseby Shirley Jackson.
Picador
The last book that made me cry
I actually don’t cry when I read.
I have never cried while reading a book.
I have sort of teared up.
And then that sadness slowly transforms into horror.
It’s about a diphtheria outbreak in a frontier town.
Highly recommend, but also… be ready.
My literary hero
Vesna Goldsworthy.
She’s really a force of nature.
She has this incredible, sharp, elegant forthrightness on the page.
She’s extraordinary in every way.
The last book I gave as a gift
White Fangby Jack London.
I gave it to my godson who was visiting us here in Wyoming.
Even though it’s not set in Wyoming, he’s into animals.
And I thought, “Well, you’re the right age forWhite Fang.”
I wanted to read the book.
This will horrify you, and there’s a lot about architecture and you will be bored."
She was right, but it’s an extraordinary book nonetheless.
What I’m reading right now
I am reading several.
