Lily King, the Women's prize-shortlisted author, opens up about her literary influences, from childhood obsessions to later-life discoveries. Her earliest reading memory is of The Little Engine That Could, a story she read repeatedly as a four-year-old, captivated by the valiant little train overcoming obstacles.
Favorite Book Growing Up
King was obsessed with Judy Blume, particularly It's Not the End of the World. Told in the first person, the novel's sharp dialogue and humor revealed how everyday life contains drama and meaning. It was the first book that made her consider becoming a writer.
Teenage Transformation
At 14 or 15, King read Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio for a high school class. Living in a small town like the protagonist George Willard, she identified with his role as an observer. This book solidified her desire to become a writer and made her feel it was a worthwhile pursuit.
Writers Who Changed Her Mind
In grad school for creative writing, King met her friend Laura McNeal and read Virginia Woolf for the first time. Both women transformed her writing, moving her from minimalist stories to deeper, more textured prose.
Book That Made Her Want to Be a Writer
King returns to Blume's It's Not the End of the World. She distinctly remembers deciding to become a writer while reading it on her twin bed, intending to write for kids. She still finds it surprising that she hasn't written a children's book yet.
Author She Came Back To
Assigned Pride and Prejudice at 16, King hated it and couldn't get past the first 20 pages. She picked it up again when heartbroken, and it was a revelation. Now she reads all of Jane Austen's books repeatedly, especially Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice.
Book She Rereads
William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury was unappreciated in high school but has become a recurring read. Each time, King finds more in the voices, language exploration, family struggles, and themes of race, mental illness, and the legacy of the American South.
Book She Could Never Read Again
King hesitates to mention The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough, which she swooned over as a teenager. She prefers to let that saga of a priest falling in love with a little girl remain vague in her memory.
Book Discovered Later in Life
Tove Jansson's The Summer Book was recommended for years, and King finally read it last summer. She describes it as 166 exquisite pages that capture the feeling of being alive and receptive to life.
Currently Reading
King typically reads multiple books simultaneously. She is slowly working through Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time, which has become engaging as the war begins. She is also reading Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood, Small Town Girls by Jayne Anne Phillips, and for research, The Dark Side of Camelot by Seymour Hersh, The Devil's Chessboard by David Talbot, and The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, which is blowing her mind.
Comfort Read
King's comfort read is I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, an underrated novel that is pure delight.
Heart the Lover by Lily King (Canongate) is shortlisted for the Women's prize. To order a copy for £20 go to guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.
