Author and part-time bookseller Jennie Godfrey has revealed her current reading obsession, desert island essential, and the book that first ignited her lifelong passion for literature in an exclusive interview about her reading habits and recommendations.
Current Thriller Escape to Greece
Godfrey is currently immersed in Dead Heat by Sabine Durrant, which publishes on March 12. She describes it as "a very classy thriller" that gives her "serious Patricia Highsmith vibes." The novel is set in Greece and unfolds over a long, hot summer, allowing Godfrey to escape to sunshine, at least in her imagination. As both a writer and part-time bookseller, she serves as the go-to person for book recommendations among friends and family, and this title is going straight onto her annual recommendation list.
Desert Island Classic with Everything
When asked what book she would take to a desert island, Godfrey immediately chose Persuasion by Jane Austen. She emphatically states, "It. Has. Everything." She praises the novel for being funny, sad, containing biting social and class commentary, and being desperately romantic while also being outspoken about the position of women in the society of the time.
While Godfrey loves everything Austen has written, she considers Persuasion to be the author's most thoughtful and emotionally complex novel. She describes it as the "second-chance trope done masterfully" and reveals she finds something new in it every time she reads it, which she has done more than twenty times.
Childhood Reading Obsession and Representation
Godfrey was so obsessed with books as a child that her mother took her to the doctor, worried she was reading too much and not sleeping enough. She read every Enid Blyton book she could find, multiple times, but identifies The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett as the book that confirmed her as a lifelong reader.
"While I loved Enid Blyton stories, the children in them were all posh," Godfrey explains. "The Secret Garden, and the character of Dickon in particular, showed me that children like me—northern, working class—deserved a place in books too."
She notes that the story of the wonderfully spoilt and obnoxious orphan Mary Lennox, who learns to love through being transplanted to Yorkshire and discovering both the natural world and the power of friendship, still stands up when read as an adult.
The Genre That Leaves Her Cold
Taking a deep breath, Godfrey admits she "just doesn't get romantasy"—the popular romance-fantasy hybrid genre. She clarifies this isn't snobbery, saying she really wants to like these books and loves that they're hugely popular and beloved by so many readers.
However, she has failed to finish any romantasy novels, losing interest as soon as she's faced with dragons and fairies. "I am taking a deep breath as I type this," she confesses, acknowledging she's "cheating slightly" by naming an entire genre rather than a specific book.
Jennie Godfrey's own novel, The Barbecue at No. 9, is published by Hutchinson Heinemann and available now for £16.99.
