The Spectator

Shelf Life: Marina Lewycka

Marina Lewycka has broken her busy reading schedule to answer this week’s Shelf Life questions. She admits to a fascination with Biggles and Paddington Bear. Her latest book, Various Pets Alive and Dead, is published by Penguin.

1) What are you reading at the moment?

Old Filth by Jane Gardam (almost finished — would have if wasn’t writing this), Together by Richard Sennett, Mo Said She Was Quirky by James Kelman.
 
2) As a child, what did you read under the covers?

Biggles was my beloved under-the-covers companion.
 
3) Has a book ever made you cry, and if so which one?

I sobbed so much reading War and Peace that I could hardly see the pages.
 
4) You are about to be put into solitary confinement for a year and allowed to take three books.

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