Emerald Fennell: my six best books
The actress and writer chooses her favourite books, from Jane Austen to Nick Cave
Emerald Fennell, who won an Oscar for her screenplay for Promising Young Woman, will be speaking at the Hay Festival Winter Weekend on 28 November.
Giving up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel (2003)
Hilary Mantel is one of those impossible, once-in-a-lifetime visionaries. She feels like she’s descended from William Blake, or a medieval anchorite. Her horror writing is peerless, and there is nothing quite so harrowingly visceral as her memoir.
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.
Fourth Estate £8.99; The Week Bookshop £6.99
The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous by Jilly Cooper (1991)
Jilly Cooper’s bucolic world of picturesque cottages, adorable dogs and hardcore bonking cannot be beaten. Kind-hearted serial-shagger Lysander Hawkley is one of the best in her irresistible rogues’ gallery.
Corgi £10.99; The Week Bookshop £8.99
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
Nothing That Meets the Eye by Patricia Highsmith (2002)
Patricia Highsmith’s stories are every bit as monstrous as her novels, and this collection of unpublished stories is seething with her usual exquisite, gleeful sadism.
Bloomsbury, out of print
The Complete Lyrics: 1978-2013 by Nick Cave (2013)
I write to music, and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds are the band I most frequently listen to while I do. Cave’s lyrics are just as much a pleasure to read as they are to listen to. Gothic, violent and beautiful.
Penguin £14.99; The Week Bookshop £11.99
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
I love all of Ishiguro’s books, but this is the one that most effectively rips your heart out. A perfect story of lost love and regret. It is masterful at showing the foolishness (and, often, cruelty) that is at the heart of British restraint.
Faber £8.99; The Week Bookshop £6.99
Persuasion by Jane Austen, (1817)
“You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late.” There can’t be a single confession in all fiction more devastating than this one. Jane Austen single-handedly established the romcom as we know it – Tim and Dawn from The Office are the love-children of Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth.
Wordsworth; The Week Bookshop £4.99
-
80 dead in Colombia amid uptick in guerrilla fighting
Speed Read This was the country's deadliest wave of violence since the peace accords set by President Gustavo Petro in 2016
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump starts term with spate of executive orders
Speed Read The president is rolling back many of Joe Biden's climate and immigration policies
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump pardons or commutes all charged Jan. 6 rioters
Speed Read The new president pardoned roughly 1,500 criminal defendants charged with crimes related to the Capitol riot
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
A family tour of Rajasthan by train
The Week Recommends The 'cacophonous, kaleidoscopic' cities of India are fascinating to explore
By The Week UK Published
-
The best new cars for 2025
The Week Recommends From family SUVs to luxury all-electrics these are the most hotly anticipated vehicles
By The Week UK Published
-
Babygirl: Nicole Kidman stars in 'riveting' erotic thriller
The Week Recommends 'The sex and the silliness' is quite fun, but it's 'ploddingly predictable stuff'
By The Week UK Published
-
Smoked haddock soufflé recipe
The Week Recommends Velvety soft soufflé has a delicate and enticing flavour
By The Week UK Published
-
Forbidden Territories: an 'ambitious and ingenious' exhibition
The Week Recommends 'Extravaganza' of a show features an array of works celebrating 100 years of surrealist landscapes
By The Week UK Published
-
Jonathan Sumption shares his favourite books
The Week Recommends The medieval historian recommends works by Edward Gibbon, Johan Huizinga and others
By The Week UK Published
-
A Real Pain: Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg star in 'uproariously funny' drama
The Week Recommends The film, dubbed an heir of Woody Allen, follows Jewish American cousins who travel to Poland in memory of their late grandmother
By The Week UK Published
-
Titaníque: 'outrageous' Céline Dion parody is a lot of fun
The Week Recommends 'Frothy' musical spoof of the blockbuster film with 'sparkling' performances
By The Week UK Published