Brenda Maddox
Brenda Maddox, a former Economist editor, has written acclaimed biographies of Nora Joyce and D.H. Lawrence. Her most recent is the award-winning Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA.
Buy Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA at Amazon
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (Penguin, $9). The book that showed me, and many others, the way out of the Catholic Church. With wit and what he called “the scholastic stink,” Joyce elegantly decided to serve only himself. Was he going to turn Protestant? “I said that I had lost the faith…not that I had lost self-respect,” says his protagonist, Stephen Dædalus.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Scoop by Evelyn Waugh (Back Bay, $15). The funniest book ever written, in the cleanest prose. Would I love it so much had I not thrown my lot in with journalism? The novel illustrates my conviction that journalism is not a profession. It is a craft—open to anybody who can get an assignment and an expense account.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brönte (Penguin, $8). Feminism started here: the story of a plain woman with no fortune earning money the only honest way she could, by becoming a governess and shutting her ears to the shrieks of the madwoman in the attic. What female does not identify with Jane sitting behind the curtain in the window seat while the boorish gentry make fun of her low status?
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Selected Letters of D.H. Lawrence (Cambridge, $26). Forget the embarrassing Lady Chatterley’s Lover, the tedious Women in Love, even Sons and Lovers. Lawrence is his letters, the most vivid and engaging self-portrait left by any English writer since Keats. Unlike Keats, Lawrence traveled the world knowing that his life would be short, and he captured the spirit of each place in unforgettable phrases.
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster (Harvest, $13). Forster’s masterpiece, displaying well-intentioned but incurable misunderstanding between two cultures that have good manners and understatement in common.
Houses of the Welsh Countryside
-
Wine-tasting in Tuscany
The Week Recommends From biodynamic vineyards to historic cellars, the picturesque region is a wine lover's dream
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK
-
Ukraine-Russia: is peace deal possible after Easter truce?
Today's Big Question 'Decisive week' will tell if Putin's surprise move was cynical PR stunt or genuine step towards ending war
By The Week UK
-
The bougie foods causing international shortages
In the Spotlight Pistachios join avocados and matcha on list of social media-driven crazes that put strain on supply chains and environment
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK
-
Ione Skye's 6 favorite books about love and loss
Feature The actress recommends works by James Baldwin, Nora Ephron, and more
By The Week US
-
Colum McCann's 6 favorite books that take place at sea
Feature The National Book Award-winning author recommends works by Ernest Hemingway, Herman Melville, and more
By The Week US
-
Max Allan Collins’ 6 favorite books that feature private detectives
Feature The mystery writer recommends works by Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and more
By The Week US
-
John McWhorter’s 6 favorite books that are rooted in history
Feature The Columbia University professor recommends works by Lyla Sage, Sally Thorne, and more
By The Week US
-
Abdulrazak Gurnah's 6 favorite books about war and colonialism
Feature The Nobel Prize winner recommends works by Michael Ondaatje, Toni Morrison, and more
By The Week US
-
Elliot Ackerman’s 6 favorite books on war and duty
Feature The Marine veteran recommends works by Robert A. Heinlein, John le Carré, and more
By The Week US
-
Xochitl Gonzalez’s 6 favorite books that shaped her storytelling
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Stephen King, Julian Barnes, and more
By The Week US
-
Jason Isaacs's 6 favorite books that changed his perception on life
Feature The British actor recommends works by George Orwell, C.S. Lewis, and more
By The Week US