Sophie Ward: My six best books
ACTRESS Sophie Ward, 45, has had long-running roles in Heartbeat and Holby City. She appears in the new series of Land Girls, which begins on Monday on BBC1 at 2.15pm.
DUSTY ANSWER
by Rosamond Lehmann
Virago, £9.99
A story about childhood and class focuses on a young girl living next-door to an extraordinary family whom she builds up in her imagination and longs to be with them. It’s beautifully written like many of the Virago classics, all of which I have devoured. It’s delicately crafted and one understands the girl’s sensibilities so well.
OUR MUTUAL FRIEND
by Charles Dickens
Penguin, £9.99
This has always been a favourite. It’s a huge book which you can tuck into with its central character being the Thames, oily, dark and with its secrets. I’m a big Dickens fan and this is a book I could read any time.
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THE END OF MR Y
by Scarlett Thomas
Canongate, £7.99
This is about a young woman at university who comes across a Victorian book which allegedly allows you to enter an alternative universe. It’s really about philosophy but is set in the modern world and puts a different spin on the Victorian mystery novel.
WIT GENSTEIN’S POKER
by David Edmonds and John Eidinow
Out of print
The story of Karl Popper, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell’s only meeting at Cambridge University’s moral science club. The argument they had about their egos and moral differences became famous. It’s very funny and although I’ve only read it once, I keep it close by to occasionally look up passages.
THE COLOUR
by Rose Tremain
Vintage, £7.99
Tremain is a favourite of mine and this is beautifully penned. I feel that she writes sparingly and clearly about feelings and situations. Set in Australia at the time of the Gold Rush the story flows organically but is unpredictable and a real page-turner.
THE COLOUR PURPLE
by Alice Walker
Phoenix, £7.99
This was a revelation. Set in the southern United States it’s about a black woman’s development during the Thirties. I remember feeling devastated, having to put the book down every now and again because I was sobbing. It’s written in the first person in dialect and diary form but the voice is so strong.