I know I would technically be walking into a bit of a dystopian nightmare, but the planet itself is described as breathtakingly beautiful. If I could be transported into the planet in Patrick Ness’ Chaos Walking trilogy, that would be awesome. #6: Your wardrobe is magical and you can enter and leave the world of any book at will - where’s your Narnia? My wardrobe is a complete mess at the moment, so I would gladly swap it for a magical one. It’s a brilliant novel that explores the complexities of the mother-daughter relationship, as well as the life-affirming power of female friendship. I also love The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.
Wuthering Heights is one of my favourite novels, although I think one of the reasons I enjoy it so much is because of the fierce love between Cathy and Heathcliff it is romantic love, but tied up in the complexities of their childhood bond. #5: What’s your favourite relationship - romantic, BFFs, sworn enemies, family - in a book and why? Family relationships are always fascinating to me, because they can be so difficult and dysfunctional, yet underpinned with such ferocious and protective love. Although if any of them snored, they’d be out. It would definitely be a writing masterclass for me. I love the way these writers describe both internal and external landscapes. #4: You’re going away on a writer’s retreat and the cottage sleeps four - who are the other three guests? You don’t have to know them, or live in the same period of history. Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Margaret Atwood, Emily Dickinson (if she could be persuaded to come.) After a very long shortlist, I’ve decided to have four guests and I will sleep on the sofa (also because there’s obviously a question mark over whether or not Emily Dickinson would come). I find that the best ideas tend to come to me whenever I’m trying to relax or sleep. Little ideas, conversations between characters, plots, descriptions of things and people I’ve seen. It was wonderful writing somewhere so naturally inspiring, although at home I usually just write in my spare room. At night there were these incredible lightning storms over the lake. #3: Where is your favourite place to write? I wrote a lot of Being Miss Nobody while I was staying in northern Italy, sitting on a balcony overlooking Lake Lugano. She always struck me as a character who just needed a good girl friend. Maybe lend her a nice dress, that kind of thing. I’d tell her to throw a ‘jilted’ party, instead of being sad and bitter about it and playing card games the whole time.
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I’d take the opportunity to teach her a bit about girl power, how to get over heart break, how being a spinster is actually really cool, particularly if you own a massive house. Who do you pick? I think it would have to be Miss Havisham from Great Expectations. #2: You’re stuck in a lift with a fictional literary character. It’s awesome to see so many young people recognizing sexism, and standing up for equal rights, especially on social media. Whenever I pointed out something sexist when I was a teenager, people would laugh or say there is no such thing as sexism! It was seriously annoying. I wish feminism was cool when I was younger, like it is now.
#1: You can travel back in time and give 14-year-old you a book you’ve read recently what do you choose? Dear Ijeawele or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Tamsin Winter is the author of Usborne’s stunning June debut, Being Miss Nobody.
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