books
January 9, 2026
Sarah Moss: ‘I never liked Wuthering Heights as much as Jane Eyre’
The author on the trouble with the Brönte novels, what she gained from reading John Updike and Martin Amis – and the brilliance of Barbara Pym
TL;DR
- Early reading was influenced by Arthur Ransome's 'Swallowdale' and Laura Ingalls Wilder's 'Little House on the Prairie' series.
- Victorian fiction and mid-century male authors like the Beat poets, Updike, and Amis influenced teenage reading habits.
- Christina Sharpe's 'Ordinary Notes' recently altered the author's understanding of the world.
- Barbara Pym and Jane Austen are authors the author has returned to, appreciating them anew.
- Works by Janet Frame, Miriam Toews, Bill Reid, Meera Sodha, Anna Jones, Felix Ford, and Kate Davies are also revisited.
- Authors discovered later in life include Magda Szabo, Alba De Céspedes, and Azar Nafisi, often through translation.
- Currently reading works by Helen Garner, Gun-Britt Sundström, and Kathleen Jamie.
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