Ruth Page is a Reader in the
School of English at Birmingham
City University. Her
research interests include
language and gender studies,
new media, narrative
theory and e-learning.
Charlotte Brontë: Jane Eyre
I first read this when I was nine years old, nearly all in one sitting. I dragged my parents to Haworth to visit the Brontë parsonage in the summer holidays afterwards. I wrote my first-year undergraduate extended essay on it, and still use extracts in my teaching now.
I first read this when I was nine years old, nearly all in one sitting. I dragged my parents to Haworth to visit the Brontë parsonage in the summer holidays afterwards. I wrote my first-year undergraduate extended essay on it, and still use extracts in my teaching now.
Nigella Lawson: Feast: Food to Celebrate Life
I find the relationship between food and ritual fascinating. And I love cooking. Nigella Lawson’s Feast is one of my favourite recipe books. I read it not just for culinary inspiration (especially when we are celebrating a particular festival), but for the beautiful illustrations – both a source of readerly pleasure, with or without the calories.
I find the relationship between food and ritual fascinating. And I love cooking. Nigella Lawson’s Feast is one of my favourite recipe books. I read it not just for culinary inspiration (especially when we are celebrating a particular festival), but for the beautiful illustrations – both a source of readerly pleasure, with or without the calories.
Rose Tremain: The Colour
Rose Tremain’s writing is a joy. I especially love the characterisation in The Colour, its feisty heroine and the descriptions of the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island remind me of happy times travelling there.
Rose Tremain’s writing is a joy. I especially love the characterisation in The Colour, its feisty heroine and the descriptions of the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island remind me of happy times travelling there.
Lionel Shriver: The Post Birthday World
This must be one of the ultimate ‘parallel world’ fictions of recent years. The plot is simple, but the interleaving of the alternate chapters is cleverly done, with careful linguistic choices and plot twists at every turn.
This must be one of the ultimate ‘parallel world’ fictions of recent years. The plot is simple, but the interleaving of the alternate chapters is cleverly done, with careful linguistic choices and plot twists at every turn.
Deborah Cameron: The Myth of Mars and Venus
I have immense respect for Deborah Cameron’s work. This book is so accessible, but rigorously explodes many stereotypical myths that circulate in language and gender studies.
I have immense respect for Deborah Cameron’s work. This book is so accessible, but rigorously explodes many stereotypical myths that circulate in language and gender studies.
Vladimir Nabakov: Pale Fire
Part discourse colony, part narrative, this book introduced me to the complex, ludic qualities of postmodern narrative that later became regularly used in hyperfiction from the 1990s onwards.
Part discourse colony, part narrative, this book introduced me to the complex, ludic qualities of postmodern narrative that later became regularly used in hyperfiction from the 1990s onwards.
Larry D Benson: The Riverside Chaucer
I was lucky to have a wonderful tutor in the final year of my undergraduate degree (English Literature, Birmingham University) who helped me to discover the delights of medieval literature. This was the edition of Chaucer’s works that we used, and it stood me in good stead when I began teaching.
I was lucky to have a wonderful tutor in the final year of my undergraduate degree (English Literature, Birmingham University) who helped me to discover the delights of medieval literature. This was the edition of Chaucer’s works that we used, and it stood me in good stead when I began teaching.
Jeremy Strong: My Gran’s Great Escape
I first read this with my daughter and now am enjoying it several years later with my son. A humorous story, which has stood rereading, and has had parents and children, alike, in stitches.
I first read this with my daughter and now am enjoying it several years later with my son. A humorous story, which has stood rereading, and has had parents and children, alike, in stitches.
Vikram Seth: A Suitable Boy
Quite possibly the longest novel I have ever read, but I was engrossed throughout.
Quite possibly the longest novel I have ever read, but I was engrossed throughout.
Electronic Literature Organization’s Archive
This is a bit of a cheat, both because it is an archive rather than a single text and because it is online material rather than print. However, if I were on a desert island (clearly one with a broadband connection and PCs freely available) with time on my hands, the ELO is a great source of experimental hyperfiction, catalogued usefully and with many examples of artistic merit.
This is a bit of a cheat, both because it is an archive rather than a single text and because it is online material rather than print. However, if I were on a desert island (clearly one with a broadband connection and PCs freely available) with time on my hands, the ELO is a great source of experimental hyperfiction, catalogued usefully and with many examples of artistic merit.
