You could say Joanna Trollope was born to be a writer, after all she is a distant relative of the Victorian author Anthony Trollope; but Joanna's style and prose are very much her own creation, born of a love of the written word. Author of 30 books including one non-fiction title, Joanna is the undisputed queen of the 'family novel'.
As a highly acclaimed author with an insight into the nuances of family relationships, she was a natural choice to write a new version of the classic Sense and Sensibility as part of The Austen Project . In 1996 she was awarded an OBE for her services to literature, but why settle for our short biography when you can read about this popular author in her own words on her website.
What is the first book you remember
reading?
One of the
first books I remember reading for myself was my grandmother's copy of France'sHodgson Burnett's " A Little Princess", which had wonderful coloured
illustrations lightly applied to separate grey pages, with protective
translucent pages on top of them, in turn...
What effect does being an author have
on you as a reader?
I don't think
being a writer makes you inevitably less tolerant or more critical, but you
certainly notice how well something has been printed and produced, and in terms
of content, speaking personally anyway, you are immediately struck by the
"voice" ( or its absence ) in any author one hasn't read before. I
suppose, too, that I can't help but be aware of how well or badly something has
been edited - I don't think there is any writing on this planet that doesn't
benefit from being edited!
Are there any books you can read again
and again?
I don't often
re-read books, largely because there is so much I want to read and the amount
worth reading just grows and grows...but Jane Austen seems to be the great
exception, probably because every time you read her novels, at different stages
of your life, you seem to find something new.
Are there any genres that you wouldn’t
choose to read?
I'm not
personally much good at fantasy ( I'd rather have real life) or at violent
crime and thrillers unless they have believable psychological depth to them.
And I'd have to be very much persuaded to read political memoir....
What is the current book on your
nightstand/coffee table?
The pile is
huge - and contains, inter alia, Mary Beard on The Parthenon Marbles, most of
the shortlist for the current Bailey's prize, Richard Holloway on Forgiveness,
Thomas Mann's " Lotte in Weimar" and Meryl Secrest's biography of
Schiaparelli . And I am part way through ALL of them...
Joanna's latest novel Balancing Act is available now to reserve or borrow from your local library.
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