Emerald Fennell: my six best books
The actress and writer chooses her favourite books, from Jane Austen to Nick Cave

Paul Mason’s latest book, How To Stop Fascism: History, Ideology, Resistance (The Week Bookshop £15.99), is published this week.
Vineland by Thomas Pynchon (1990)
A haunting and surreal story of betrayal, both in love and politics, set amid the ruins of the 1960s counterculture, the war on drugs and the rise of the US surveillance state. Vintage £10.99; The Week Bookshop £8.99
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.
Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman (1980)
Grossman was a journalist who saw both the Second World War and the Holocaust from the frontline. This masterpiece of 20th century literature was banned for explicitly comparing Nazi and Soviet dictatorships, and had to be smuggled out of the USSR on microfilm. Its author died believing that every copy of his book had been lost. Vintage £10.99; The Week Bookshop £8.99
The Red Virgin: Memoirs of Louise Michel (1886)
A schoolteacher turned barricade fighter in the Paris Commune, Michel was exiled to the Pacific island of New Caledonia, where she began to document the folklore of the indigenous peoples, and to support their revolt against French colonialism. My 2017 play, Divine Chaos of Starry Things, was a tribute to her indomitable spirit. University of Alabama Press £32.50
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn (1939)
Of all the coal-mining novels, this is the one that captures best the intense solidarity of communities like the one my grandparents lived in, and how much they loved life despite its hardships. Today the Welsh valleys are, once again, green – but at massive social cost. Penguin £10.99; The Week Bookshop £8.99
Istanbul, Istanbul by Burhan Sönmez (2016)
I covered the Gezi Park uprising in Istanbul in 2013. Sönmez’s novel tells the city’s story through the eyes of four victims of torture, who tell each other fables as they share a prison cell. In a world where torture is becoming the routine tool of political strongmen, Sönmez shows how ordinary people find the courage to resist. Telegram Books £8.99; The Week Bookshop £6.99
-
El Palace Barcelona: old-world luxury in the heart of the city
The Week Recommends This historic hotel is set within a former Ritz outpost moments from the Passeig de Gràcia
-
The best history books to read in 2025
The Week Recommends These fascinating deep-dives are perfect for history buffs
-
July 4 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Friday’s political cartoons include the danger of talking politics at a family picnic, and disappearing Medicaid entitlements
-
The Anatomy of Painting: Jenny Saville's 'stunning' retrospective
The Week Recommends Saville's new collection features 'masterpieces' from throughout her career
-
M3GAN 2.0: riotous action sequel to the comedy-horror hit about a killer doll
The Week Recommends A 'ridiculously' entertaining 'hyper-camp mash-up' of Terminator 2 and Mission: Impossible
-
Properties of the week: bright and cheerful houses
The Week Recommends Featuring homes in Cornwall, London and Norfolk
-
Shami Chakrabarti picks her favourite books
The Week Recommends The politician and human rights activist shares the polemics that inspired her
-
6 sleek homes for modernists
Feature Featuring a concrete-and-steel home in South Carolina and a renovated 19th-century former carriage house in Pennsylvania
-
The Genius Myth: a 'fresh and unpretentious' book from Helen Lewis
The Week Recommends This 'angry, witty book' by Helen Lewis is a valuable critique of the 'flattering fiction' of genius
-
From Hilde, With Love – the 'moving' story of an accidental revolutionary
The Week Recommends Liv Lisa Fries gives a 'compelling' performance as the soft-spoken heroine.
-
Exploring Georgia's southern highlands
The Week Recommends Visit Javakheti, Georgia's 'lake district', and meet the last-remaining 'spirit wrestlers' in the region