CLOVER STROUD
Journalist turned author Clover Stroud shares her five favourite reads with Judith Spelman
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© Paul Clarke
Clover Stroud is a journalist who writes lifestyle features for major newspapers and magazines. She writes about travel and her diverse experiences as well as interviewing well-known people. She has contributed to several books and now written her first full-length book, The Wild Other: A Memoir.
‘I have always wanted to write in longer form, ’ she explains, ‘and although I love the fast turnaround of journalism I love the fact it allows you to meet people and ask them the most personal questions. I knew that creatively I wanted to have the luxury to exist with a subject for a long period of time. If I can do both hand in hand that would be perfect for me. It’s really like doing different exercises; like running a marathon and then doing really short sprints.’
PRINCES IN THE LAND
Joanna Cannan
‘The first book I have chosen is a book by Joanna Cannan and it’s called Princes in the Land. It’s just been reprinted by Persephone Books and it is a really fantastic book. It’s a children’s book and it’s about three children growing up. A lot of it is set in Oxford which I know very well because I grew up there and it is about their routes into adult life. What’s really interesting is the point of view of their mother and it’s about her looking at her expectations of her children and watching them grow up and realising they are all taking routes that she particularly doesn’t enjoy. They are not routes she would choose for them. It’s a very poignant book. As a mother it’s very interesting. I have five children and you do have expectations for them and you try and put your own influences on them, remembering they are individuals and they will go off and do exactly what they want to do. Joanna Cannan was the mother of the Pullein-Thompson sisters who were also writers and there is lots of lovely stuff about horses. You will see from my book choices that I like poignancy in literature and I like to be made to cry probably more than I want to be made to laugh.’