While I enjoy a wide variety of different genres and styles of writing, there are five authors that hold a very special place in my heart.
Maggie Stiefvater
It was her trilogy The Wolves of Mercy Falls that really set me on the path back to reading, and reading with vigour. The trilogy follows the romance of Grace Brisbane and Sam as tensions between humans and wolves/werewolves rise throughout the small town of Mercy Falls, in the wake of the attack of a school boy. It is such a beautiful story of struggle. Sam struggles to keep himself human. In his taciturn state, he struggles to give Grace the love and attention she deserves, the love she craves after all those years of watching him from her window. Maggie was masterful in building a true and loving bond between her two protagonists. It is believable, amazingly so and you can't help but root for them every step of the way.
J.K Rowling
This is a woman who shaped a generation. It would be a scandal not to feature her in my top five favourite authors. As a child, I remember dressing up as Hermione Granger and going with my school to see the first and second films of the Harry Potter series. What I love about her is her power to captivate. She brought to life such an amazing world of magic and spells, with characters as extraordinary and lovable as the next. She has brought such light and wonder into the world and into the lives of millions of people worldwide, she has made such a legacy for herself. Her boy wizard has found his place in literature history. What writer doesn't aspire to that level of greatness?
Roald Dahl
Another iconic figure from my childhood. While so many of his stories are wonderful, it was the story of Matilda that sticks with me the most. He gave a young girl the power to change her life. Alone and neglected by her own family, he gave her the smarts, the will and a dash of magic to become something incredible. His creation of her really empowered me growing up, because despite all the bad in her life, she remained a good person and used her gifts to make her life, and the lives of those around her, better. The world would be a brighter place, if we all were kinder to one another.
Frances Hodgson Burnett
You may be somewhat surprised by this choice, as she is not a modern writer. Frances was born 24 November 1849Â and died 29 October 1924. And she is responsible for writing not one, but two of my all time favourite novels: The Secret Garden and A Little Princess. Not only are the stories beautiful and again telling of one girl's struggle with loss, and love and family, it is beautifully written. It has always thrilled my imagination, reading how people lived, and worked and thrived in a time so different to our own. There are days when I feel that I would have suited a life in Victorian/Edwardian times, but then I wouldn't have the same opportunities to write and dream freely as I do now. It's difficult to choose.
Philippa Gregory
This amazing woman is an expert story teller of some of my favourite historical figures. I never grow tired of her tales of Tudor England, of the royal scandals and customs. But what I love most is her placing and telling of the powerful women who shaped a dynasty: Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort, Catherine of Aragon, Mary and Anne Boleyn and so many more. I love Tudor England, the world has always fascinated me and reading just one of her novels transports me into the lives of those fascinating women and make me wonder ever more about them and how they really lived life at a unforgiving and seductive Tudor court.
In tomorrow's posting.... the best novel adaptations. My opinion.