Nicola Sturgeon's five favourite books

The former first minister of Scotland picks five favourites. Nicola Sturgeon's memoir, "Frankly", is out this week. She will be talking about her life in politics at the Southbank Centre on 29 August.

Sunset Song

Lewis Grassic Gibbon, 1932
This is the novel that ignited my love of literature. Set in the northeast of Scotland during the First World War, it tells the story of a girl torn between her yearning for education and travel and her loyalty to the rural community she was born into. Rooted in a unique place at a pivotal moment in history, it is also a timeless and universal story about coming of age and the pressures and expectations of womanhood.

Half of a Yellow Sun

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 2006
Set during the Biafran War, this is both a beautiful love story and an affecting account of the human impact of civil war. It educates, entertains and moves the reader – all the things a good novel should do.

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James

Percival Everett, 2024
A masterful retelling of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", from the perspective of Jim the slave. It will make you cry and laugh, scream with rage – but, ultimately, dare to feel just a bit hopeful about the future of humanity.

The Skeleton Road

Val McDermid, 2014
Part of the Inspector Karen Pirie series, this is a coldcase mystery and historical drama rolled into one. It takes the reader from Edinburgh to the Balkans, with a detour to the spires of Oxford, and is gripping from the very first page. And just when you think it's safe to breathe again, it delivers a final twist that will leave you reeling.

Beloved

Toni Morrison, 1987
I love everything Morrison wrote, but "Beloved" stands above the rest. It is a searing indictment of the physical and psychological trauma of slavery, and the dehumanisation of those who enforce it and those subject to it. More optimistically, it's a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the enduring bonds between mothers and daughters.