To celebrate the launch of The White Lady in paperback last month, we asked Jacqueline Winspear who her favourite authors are.

It’s an interesting question – which authors have inspired you?  I have been an avid reader since early childhood, though I know every writer says pretty much the same thing . However, I have not drawn inspiration for my work from other novelists, beyond having an admiration for their writing – instead I agree with the sentiment expressed by the author Gayl Jones, who said in an interview, “The best of my writing comes from having heard rather than having read.”  I would go a step further, adding that I am inspired not only by what I have heard, but what I have seen.  I am inspired by observations, by those events, some very small, that have drawn my attention and caused me to think deeply about something. 

Before I launch into a recounting of favourite books and authors, I should warn that it could easily result in the never-ending list – so consider this a smattering, with choices from my childhood and teens as well as adulthood.

Dodie Smith – is there a dog-loving child who could not love 101 Dalmatians.  I can’t remember how many times I read this book from first picking it up at age 8.  However, in later years I was drawn to Smith’s memoir, and indeed a quote from her play, Dear Octopus to describe my very big extended family: “The family, that dear octopus whose tentacles we never quite escape, nor in our innermost hearts never quite wish to.”

Ruby Ferguson –  the horse-mad girl in me loved every single one of her books about Jill and her ponies. 

Jane Trahey – I read Life With Mother Superior when I was about 11, and I thought it was hilarious, so I read it again and again during my middle adolescence!

Jane Austen – one of my most beloved authors since age 12, though I know I didn’t really  digest the very best of her writing until I was in my twenties.

Emily Bronte – A copy of Wuthering Heights was in the Christmas display at our local corner shop when I was nine.  My mother wondered if I was too young to appreciate it, but I saved up for the book and cherished it for years, reading it time and again.

Scott Fitzgerald – I first read F. Scott Fitzgerald when I was sixteen, and for a girl raised on the English classics, it was a massive eyeopener, just in terms of his use of language and the pace of the novel. I then read everything he had ever written! My final dissertation at college was “The Theory of Emotional Bankruptcy As Reflected in Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway.  Reading Scott Fitzgerald led me to a generation of American authors – I was enthralled.

Hemingway – I think I’ve read almost every book by Mr. H.

John Dos Passos – his USA trilogy is a stunning literary work.

Ruth Rendell – I began reading the author when I was in my early twenties.

Josephine Tey – I read The Franchise Affair and loved it when I was in my mid-teens.

Daphne Du Maurier  – I read one book after another, again in my early twenties

Susan Howatch – it was her later books, chiefly the Starbridge Series that captivated me.  She is a genius, given her ability to take a potentially dry subject such as the Church of England and render it completely absorbing with character studies as deep as they are broad.  I admire her work because she combined intellectual heft and solid academic inquiry with a razor-sharp wit and turned those elements into highly commercial literary fiction.   Now that is a writer!

Lewis Grassick Gibbon – I loved the trilogy, A Scots Quair – the wonderful the use of language and dialect in storytelling.  Just stunning.

Rosamund Pilcher – another author from my blockbuster days. I loved her characterizations.

J RR Tolkein – I began to read his work when II was in my early twenties. A bit late, but I’m glad I had not turned to it before.

Herman Hesse – Having discovered Hesse’s work, I read one book after the other, again in my twenties. Absolutely captivating – I must re-read his novels again soon.

Chaim Potok – I was spending a lot of time in New York in my early to late twenties, and came across his novels. I found them incredibly moving and compassionate, delving into characters compromised by faith.  My Name Is Asher Lev was a favourite.

Leon Uris – again, from my blockbuster years!  I just read them one after the other!

Nikos Kazantzakis – I was about ninetee when I was introduced me to his work, and I fell in love with it.  He will always be known for Zorba The Greek, but I loved Freedom and Death.  Again, time to re-read.

Monica Dickens – I’ve enjoyed her work far more than I ever enjoyed her great-grandfather’s novels. Sorry, was never a fan of Charles.

During the past twenty or so years, my reading has been all over the place. I love the series in the Times, highlighting authors of the past we might have missed.  I’ve followed those recommendations a number of times now, and it has made for wonderful reading. 

However, here are just a few of the more contemporary authors I follow:

Zadie Smith – I’m reading The Fraud at the moment. I’ve admired her work since White Teeth.

Louise Penney – I have a crush on her character, Armand Gamache.

William Kent Krueger – I first read This Tender Land and was hooked.

Elinor Lipman – I love her books, she lightens my day with her wit and clever storytelling.

Susan Isaacs – Ditto!

Jonathan Kellerman – another crush, this time it’s his character Alex Delaware

Joanna Trollope – wonderful characterization and insight to the supposedly “ordinary” human condition.

As I said – I’m all over the place in my reading!