The journalist and BBC news anchor is a judge for The British Book Awards 2025, the winners of which are announced on 12 May. Her debut novel "Finding Belle" is out this week.
Jane Eyre
Charlotte Brontë, 1847
This was the first "proper" book I read, when I was eight years old. Then, I was rapt by the story of Jane's childhood and the cruelty and deprivation she suffers. In my teens I came to understand the more adult themes of love, betrayal and integrity. I have read it every decade of my life since.
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.
The Complete Poems
John Keats
I am a proud trustee of the Keats-Shelley Memorial Association and have always been a great fan of Keats's poetry. His work embodies what it is to be young, with its ardent, yearning language. "The Odes... – To Autumn, to a Nightingale", and "on a Grecian Urn" – are particularly fine.
Middlemarch
George Eliot, 1871
George Eliot's masterpiece. She produces an entire world in a small English provincial town, and writes with great perception and generosity about her characters. She deals with issues of status, pretensions, social class and women's place in society – but the novel has sparkling moments of comedy too.
The Namesake
Jhumpa Lahiri, 2003
Pulling myself out of the 19th century – this clever and moving novel feels very close to my heart. It's about the complexities of migration, and how the Indian parents in the novel relate to their American-born son. It's hard to believe this was Jhumpa Lahiri's debut novel, it's so assured.
Giving Up the Ghost
Hilary Mantel, 2003
This is a haunting and painful memoir by a writer I revere. Hilary Mantel writes of living with a debilitating condition that went undiagnosed for years, and of how writing – and her extraordinary imagination – became a form of compensation.
Titles in print are available from The Week Bookshop
-
How will the new Repayment Assistance Plan for student loans work?the explainer The Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) will replace existing income-driven repayment plans
-
In the Spotlight Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been at odds with US forces
-
Music reviews: Ethel Cain, Amaarae, and The Black KeysFeature "Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You," "Black Star," and "No Rain, No Flowers"
-
Music reviews: Ethel Cain, Amaarae, and The Black Keys
Feature "Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You," "Black Star," and "No Rain, No Flowers"
-
Film reviews: Highest 2 Lowest and WeaponsFeature A kidnapping threatens a mogul's legacy and a town spins into madness after 17 children disappear
-
Book reviews: 'King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution' and 'Gwyneth: The Biography'Feature How the Iranian Revolution began and Gwyneth Paltrow's life in the spotlight
-
Garrett Graff's 6 favorite books that shine new light on World War IIFeature The author recommends works by James D. Hornfischer, Craig L. Symonds, and more
-
6 stylish homes in North CarolinaFeature Featuring a house with ocean views in Duck and a 1848 cotton-mill-turned-condo in Saxapahaw
-
Weapons: Julia Garner stars in 'hyper-eerie' psychological thrillerThe Week Recommends Zach Cregger's 'top notch' new film opens with 17 children disappearing at exactly the same time
-
Freakier Friday: Lohan and Curtis reunite for 'uneven' but 'endearing' sequelThe Week Recommends Mother-and-daughter comedy returns with four characters switching bodies
-
Critics' choice: Outstanding new Japanese restaurantsFeature An all-women sushi team, a 15-seat listening bar, and more
