My life in books: Henrietta McKervey

Your favourite book of all time? Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas. I saw the stage version at school and have loved Captain Cat, pining Polly Garter, and the other inhabitants of Llareggub since. I went to Laugharne (the real Llareggub) last year and visited the house Thomas lived in while writing it.

Book that made you become a writer? Anagrams by Lorrie Moore. Her combination of real-but-sideways dialogue and quirky characterisations made me want to write, even though the sharpness of her prose intimated me!

Book you would recommend to people? This changes annually! Last year, it was Christine Dwyer Hickey’s The Narrow Land. Now it’s Kathleen MacMahon’s stunning new book Nothing But Blue Sky.

Best book to start a book club? For non-fiction, Sarah Churchwell’s Behold America. It picks apart contemporary America through the phrases ‘America First’ and ‘the American Dream’. For fiction, a classic: Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky, the seedy, semi-autobiographical trilogy by Patrick Hamilton (original author of Gas Light).

Favourite author? I can’t land on just one... Based on all their work rather than a single book: Lorrie Moore, David Lodge, Julian Barnes.

Favourite classic book? Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen; a funny, gothic satire playing on relationships and expectations. I can’t understand why it’s considered an also-ran in the Austen canon.

Book you wished you'd written? Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson. Ruby Lennox is an unforgettable character, and Atkinson’s effervescent way with language is *chef’s kiss!*

A Talented Man by Henrietta McKervey (Hachette Ireland) is available now