The former MP and Green Party leader picks her favourites. She will be talking about her new book, "Another England", at the Queen’s Park Book Festival on 31 August
Finding the Mother Tree
Suzanne Simard, 2021
Simard’s extraordinary account of her discovery that trees can communicate through subterranean networks of fungi has transformed our view of the natural world. This isn’t just another book about saving the trees; it’s a book about how the trees might just save us.
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The Poisonwood Bible
Barbara Kingsolver, 1998
I have read this many times over for the sheer joy of the exquisite writing, each sentence to be rolled in the mouth and savoured. I love her layered narrative structure, with its five different voices; each time I come back to it, I find myself identifying closely with a different character.
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With the End in Mind
Kathryn Mannix, 2017
The irony of this book about dying is that it’s so wonderfully life-affirming. Mannix, a palliative care doctor, makes a powerful case for the need to talk about how to die well – and if we do, it will give us our best chance of living well too.
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Anam Cara
John O’Donohue, 1996
Even better if you listen to the audio version read by John’s brother Pat, with his lilting Irish accent, this is a book of spiritual wisdom from one of the world’s most inspiring writers and philosophers.
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Selected Poetry and Prose
John Clare, 1986
I’ve drawn heavily on the poetry of this pioneering 19th century poet in "Another England" to show how, in the very syntax of his writing, Clare captures the mutual dependence of humans and nature.
Jane Eyre
Charlotte Brontë, 1847
I reread this constantly as a teenager, totally transfixed by such a compelling love story, with its appealing message that wit, warmth and courage can be more attractive than beauty.
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