Bookbenchers: Kwasi Kwarteng MP

This week’s Bookbencher is Kwasi Kwarteng, MP for Spelthorne and author of Ghosts of Empire which was published by Bloomsbury this summer and reviewed by Douglas Hurd in The Spectator in September.  He chose a refreshing mixture of fiction and non-fiction, but surprised us with his choice of the literary character he’d most like to be.

Which book’s on your bedside table at the moment?

The Great Crash by John Kenneth Galbraith, and The Painted Veil by Somerset Maugham.

Which book would you read to your children?

If I had any, it would be James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

Which literary character would you most like to be?

The Mayor of Casterbridge

Which book do you think best sums up ‘now’?

The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope.

What was the last novel you read?

The Family by Martina Cole.

Which book would you most recommend?

Papillon