SHELF LIFE
Prolific bestseller Diane Chamberlain shares the fi ve books that have made the greatest impact on her
Diane Chamberlain
Charlotte’s Web
by EB White
‘When it comes to books that had an impact on me, I have to start with Charlotte’s Web by EB White. When I was seven years old, my teacher read us a chapter each day from this book. I still remember sitting at my little desk, hanging on every word as she painted Charlotte and Wilbur’s small world in the barn. I recall laughing as she read, and I recall crying. Until that moment, the books I’d read or had read to me were simplistic stories. Suddenly, though, I was transported to another world filled with emotion and I realised that a human being could write something that made readers feel. It was that moment that I decided I wanted to be a writer. However, I never thought I could make a living as a writer, so I followed my second passion and became a clinical social worker instead. My writing career then grew out of a hobby.’