My life in books: 'One simple line by Maeve Binchy was enough'
Cathy Kelly: 'When Maeve Binchy’s 'Light A Penny Candle' came out in 1982, I remember wondering if it would ever be possible to write a novel myself.' File picture: Moya Nolan
Cathy Kelly was formerly a journalist before going on to become a best-selling author.
Her latest book, , published by Harper Collins, is out now.
Sheila O’Flanagan’s ; by Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen; and actress Kathy Burke’s autobiography, which my partner, PJ, bought me — he knows I love her.
Anything by Jilly Cooper, Marian Keyes, Patricia Scanlan, or Kerry Greenwood, who writes the Miss Fisher mysteries, set in Melbourne in the 1920s — Phryne Fisher is a fabulous heroine.
by Siddartha Mukherjee, a New York-based oncologist. This book is about cancer and is utterly amazing but it’s a brick and I can only get through a few pages at a time.
When Maeve Binchy’s came out in 1982, I remember wondering if it would ever be possible to write a novel myself but I decided that was a crazy idea because who was I?
Anything by PG Wodehouse. Another notable mention must be by Douglas Adams — a trilogy of four books.
, the seminal work on the physiological effects of abuse and trauma on the human body by Bessel van der Kolk.
As someone who writes a lot about people’s pain, this book is so informative on how our bodies literally have all the trauma in our lives imprinted upon them one way or another.
The novels of Colette. She was a very wise French woman who wrote beautifully and her work contains armfuls of advice if only one looks hard enough.
Also, the novels of Maeve Binchy taught me that there is no need for reams of words about a character in a novel — one simple line by fabulous Maeve was enough.
I think Maeve and people like Patricia Scanlan have sent the very essence of Irishness out into the world.
The thriller I am determined to write some day. Also, I am in the early stages — teething — with a new novel.
With books, the beginning is the hardest bit and sadly, it’s not enough to dose it up with Calpol.
Gisele Pelicot’s autobiography which I have just started. It’s both heartbreaking and yet filled with her courage to make shame change sides.
I’m going off piste here with a television series instead of a film but the 1995 BBC Andrew Davies adaptation of was truly superb.
Also, and all the sequels. The artistry in the screenplay, the voiceovers, and the animation are incredible. They’re such feelgood films.
Normally I have fiction and non-fiction separately but I moved house in late October and my books are not all shelved, so chaos.
In the morning, I like to read with my first cup of coffee. When my children, who are now adults, were little, I’d bring a flask of coffee up to bed at night and wake before everyone else so I could read and drink coffee even for a few precious minutes.
At night, I read in bed with some lovely jasmine tea that my sister Lucy got for me.
Ciara Fay, the heroine of Roisín O’Donnell’s incredibly moving novel, . This book is stunning. Roisin manages to perfectly capture the deep fear that Ciara is living with alongside the simple joy of being a parent, when she is away from her husband. Deserves every award she’s won.
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