Joya Chatterji shares her favourite books
The historian chooses works by Thomas Hardy, George Eliot and Peter Carey

The historian/writer chooses her favourite novels (and a memoir). Last week, she was crowned winner of the Wolfson History Prize 2024 for her book "Shadows at Noon: The South Asian Twentieth Century".
Speak, Memory
Vladimir Nabokov, 1951
This is my all-time favourite – I've probably read it about 50 times. A profound, honest memoir of exile, it's searing, but at the same time luxuriously beautiful.
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.
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Thomas Hardy, 1891
I'm a real Hardy fan and could have picked any of his books – but with Tess, there's something deeply tragic about the way terrible things just keep happening to her that I've never been able to get out of my mind.
Middlemarch
George Eliot, 1871
I read this when I was about eight and assumed it was written by a very clever boy. It wasn't until I was 18 that I realised it was by a woman – then I understood. It's a book I return to.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The God of Small Things
Arundhati Roy, 1997
I love the way the house in this novel is practically its own character, as is the weather. It reminds me a little of Hardy, actually, but it's so much more ferocious. It left me changed, and its imprint is all over "Shadows at Noon". I don't write like Roy at all – very few can – but by God hers is one hell of a book.
A House for Mr Biswas
V.S. Naipaul, 1961
Naipaul is the total opposite of Roy, but his writing is so spare and clear and beautiful. This book made me see the Sugar Islands in a way I'd never seen them before. When my mother, a great reader, gave it to me, I couldn't get over its power.
Oscar and Lucinda
Peter Carey, 1988
I include this book not only because of its absolutely fantastic characters, but because of the way it tells the story of the brutal conquest of Australia against the backdrop of a really rather one-sided love affair. It was among Carey's earliest novels, and of course he went on to write several other brilliant ones.
-
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale – a ‘comfort’ watch for fans
The Week Recommends The final film of the franchise gives viewers a chance to say goodbye
-
The Paper: new show, same 'warmth and goofiness'
The Week Recommends This spin-off of the American version of The Office is ‘comfortingly and wearyingly familiar’
-
Rachel Jones: Gated Canyons – ‘riotously colourful’ works from an ‘exhilarating’ painter
The Week Recommends The 34-year-old is the first artist to take over Dulwich Picture Gallery’s main space
-
Born With Teeth: ‘mischievously provocative’ play starring Ncuti Gatwa
The Week Recommends ‘Sprightly’ production from Liz Duffy Adams imagines the relationship between Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe
-
Art review: Lorna Simpson: Source Notes
Feature Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, through Nov. 2
-
Jessica Francis Kane's 6 favorite books that prove less is more
Feature The author recommends works by Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie-Helene Bertino, and more
-
Book reviews: 'Baldwin: A Love Story' and 'The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces'
Feature A loving James Baldwin biography and the drug crimes of two special ops veterans
-
Rigatoni with 'no-vodka sauce' recipe
The Week Recommends Comfort food meets a clever alcohol-free twist on a classic