A Town Like Alice
A romcom set in COPENHAGEN at Christmas
Author Sally Nicholls chooses her top reads by/about Brilliant Women
31st March 2021
Author Sally Nicholls chooses her top reads by/about Brilliant Women
We’re closing out Women’s History Month in true TripFiction style with 10 brilliant books by/about brilliant women chosen by award-winning author Sally Nicholls. From the slums of the East End in a powerful suffragette story to the misty Yorkshire Dales in the 20th century, Sally’s children’s books have gone on to win the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and be shortlisted for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the Costa Children’s Book Award, and the Carnegie Medal, twice!
A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute – MALAYA and AUSTRALIA
When Jean Paget is taken prisoner in occupied Malaya, she and the other women and children are forced on a death march across the country. But this book is a story about hope, and the ability of a kind, clever women to change lives. Most of the books on this list are by women, but I love Jean so much, I had to include this one too.
The Silent Stars Go By by Sally Nicholls – YORKSHIRE
My latest YA novel is set in the Yorkshire Dales at Christmas 1919. I grew up in Teesside, and I love this part of the world. I hope I did the draughty vicarage, the smoky village and the clear, fresh air of the dales justice!
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy – INDIA
A story of love, loss, family, and what happens when you break the Love Laws, which lay down who can be loved, and how much.
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou – UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
The first volume of Maya Angelou’s autobiography describes her childhood in the American South. A powerful story of family and abuse. The next six volumes go on to describe what happened next.
Emily Climbs by LM Montgomery – CANADA
Many of us are familiar with Anne of Green Gables, but Emily is also worth reading about. An orphan living with her unmarried aunts, who longs to be a poet, Emily’s story is about an Edwardian woman trying to reach her potential in a world which would rather she stayed at home.
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein – FRANCE
Verity is a prisoner of war in occupied France. She is writing down her story for her captors. But how much is true and how much is fiction? This is a powerful, plot-driven YA novel, which will have you reading late into the night to find out what happens next.
The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagan, translated by Arthur Waley – JAPAN
Japan in the 10th century stood physically and culturally isolated from the rest of the world. Inside this bubble, a subtle and beautiful world was in operation, and its inhabitants were tied to the moment, having no interest in the future and disdain for the past.
An eleventh-century Japanese lady-in-waiting writes down lists and thoughts and feelings about her life. A lovely book to dip in and out of.
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov – RUSSIA
Another male-authored novel, included here mostly for the scene where Margarita goes flying through Moscow naked on the back of a broomstick, which is the best refutation of Stalinist Russia I’ve ever read. Enjoy!
The Wheel of Surya by Jamila Gavin – INDIA/PAKISTAN
This sadly overlooked children’s novel follows an English girl and two Hindu children as they deal with the fallout of Partition. Well-worth seeking out.
Sally Nicholls grew up in Stockton-on-Tees, and after school, travelled the world, working for a period at a Red Cross hospital in Japan. Sally’s first novel, Ways to Live Forever, won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and she has been shortlisted for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the Costa Children’s Book Award, and the Carnegie Medal, twice. She lives in Oxford. For more information check out Sally’s website and catch her on Twitter
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