Writers Recommend: Karen Angelico
Valentine's Day is just around the corner, so get ordering your books on love and intimacy...
Hooray, it’s Friday, and very nearly the end of the month. Very soon February will be upon us and before you know it, it’ll be just a hop, skip and a jump to Spring. I cannot wait.
But before that, for those lovers among you, there is Valentine’s Day, and in preparation I thought we’d hear from Karen Angelico with the books she recommends on love, intimacy and relationship.
For new subscribers among us (hello and welcome!) you will find in my online store curations by writers for readers – a list of books from the genre they write in that they desperately wish to press into readers’ hands. These are the books that they guard on their bedside table, the books they buy again and again for their friends, the books that they recommend for entry level into a particular genre, or incredible finds for those who are already well-read in that area. I am sure within every curation you will discover something new, but even better than that, those same writers met with me to tell you just why they love the books that they’ve picked.
At the bottom of this page you will find my interview with Karen, but beforehand let me introduce you to Karen and the books she has chosen.
Karen Angelico is the author of the brilliant debut novel, EVERYTHING WE ARE. The Daily Mail described this book as: ‘urban, slick and wonderfully written with plenty of sex, drugs and glossy modern lifestyle detail. But at its centre is someone twisted and sad and Angelico's great achievement is to create sympathy for him.’
And I can heartily recommend EVERYTHING WE ARE to you.
I’m so grateful that Karen put together a curation for THE BOOK ROOM, it was one of my most popular curations in my pop-up shop and sold out several times over, so let’s have a look at the books she chose, and read a little teaser from Karen about why she chose them:
• THE LONG VIEW by Elizabeth Jane Howard
Karen says: “This is one of my all-time favorite novels. It was published in 1956 and was her second novel, which is quite astonishing because it is a masterpiece in my opinion, and also in Hillary Mantel's opinion as well who asked why it is not recognized as one of the great novels of the 20th century? The beginning of this novel is set in 1950 and we’re introduced to a lady called Antonia Fleming as she’s about to host an engagement party for her son and daughter-in-law to be. We learn quite quickly of her isolation since her two children have left home and quite clearly about her far from satisfactory marriage. Howard writes with such incredible restraint and nuance and layering. There are five parts to this novel and each part takes you back in time, and you see what’s happened until it ends in 1926. I could just read ir over and over again and get something different every time.”
Karen says: “This novel does explore relationships, but it is more focused on the friendships rather than the romantic relationships and the marriages, the dynamics of those friendships before and after marriage, motherhood, careers. The novel dips in and out, present past, present past, all the way through so you see these friends when they’re at university, you see all their hopes and their dreams and then you see the harsh reality when they step out into the world. And seeing it side-by-die like that makes it more poignant somehow. The themes explored in this book were certainly very true for me and I think they are for a lot of women, and the messages in this book are really powerful.”
• THE PAPER PALACE by Miranda Cowley Heller
Karen says: “I've recommended this book to pretty much everyone, I absolutely loved it, and I was astounded that it was a debut, it's brilliantly and so confidently written, it's about passion, desires, secrets – all my favourites. Its a love triangle set in a summer beach house called The Paper Palace and as soon as I picked it up, I just knew within the first paragraph that this was a book for me. I raced through it, I couldn’t put it down. It explores the dynamics of family, the interplay of relationships between the mother and daughter and sister, the decisions they made and the devastating consequences. Ah, just read it. It's brilliant.”
• CONVERSATIONS ON LOVE by Natasha Lunn
Karen says: “This should have been written – I don’t know – 20, 30 years ago, I wanted this to have been pressed into my foolish teenager hands. Maybe I wouldn't have made some foolish mistakes in love. One of the quotes on the front is from the Sunday Times, and it says, ‘this book might just change your life.’ And I have to say, without being dramatic, yes, this book will change your life if you've ever just struggled with loving yourself and figuring out the whole relationship, drama, it just gets to grip with what love is all about: How do we sustain it? How do we survive when we lose it? And this book doesn't just cover romantic love, it's about friendships and the love we have for our family. I can't even begin to describe how incredible this book is. You can just dip in and out and read little bits, there's a gem of wisdom on every page. I wish I'd read this when I was younger.”
Don’t forget you can order all of these books from THE BOOK ROOM, and in fact, to entice you to order all five books mentioned here, I’ve currently got 10% off the entire curation until Valentine’s Day, and you can find that here. For those in Tunbridge Wells, I can box the curation up for you in a hamper, all tied with pink and red bows to make it extra special as a Valentine’s gift (obviously for an extra fee).
Here is the full interview with Karen so you can have a listen to all she has to say about these brilliant books.
• Remember you can still support THE BOOK ROOM while I am waiting to open my physical store again by shopping online. I can order ANY BOOK for you and you will receive it within 48 hours. It has never been a more important time to support both writers and independents bookshops, and by buying from me, you are doing both and contributing to a vital ecosystem.
Oh all of these look lush!