The author on being mesmerised by The Virgin Suicides, the life‑changing Toni Morrison – and the book that’s too devastating to reread
My earliest reading memory
Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox, aged eight at boarding school in Norfolk. It was so wacky, fiendish and humorous. It didn’t patronise young readers, which I appreciated. I had just started my first term at that school, which was a period of great change in my life having moved from Lagos to England. I missed my parents but reading this gave me such joy. It unlocked my imagination; I caught the reading bug then never stopped.
My favourite book growing up
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides. It’s a mesmerising book. I love its exploration of complex familial ties; what living in a rigid, suffocating environment can do to adolescent minds.
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