My life in books 

By Sheila Bugler

Favourite book of all time?

A River Runs Through it, by Norman Maclean. An elegy to Maclean’s younger brother, Paul, it’s haunting and heart-breaking. Robert Redford turned it into a film and Brad Pitt is perfectly cast as the troubled, beautiful Paul.

A book that made you want to become a writer?

I’d always wanted to write, but never knew how I’d make that happen. Then I discovered Harlan Coben. I vividly remember binge-reading his novels and thinking ‘this is what I want to do!’

A book that you would recommend to people?

The Perfect Stranger, by PJ Kavanagh. This beautifully written memoir is a hugely important book for me.

The best book to start a book club?

Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn, because it offers so many topics to talk about.

Who is your favourite author?

Megan Abbott or Tana French – crime fiction queens.

Favourite classic book?

The Great Gatsby. I can never read those final few paragraphs without crying.

A book you wish you'd written

Some years ago, I had the idea of writing a crime novel featuring an unreliable female character with a serious drink problem. Unfortunately, Paula Hawkins got there first with The Girl on the Train. So that’s the book I wish I’d written. 

Before You Were Gone by Sheila Bugler (Canelo) is available now 

Book Review

The City of Tears by Kate Mosse (Mantle)

I would read Kate Mosse’s shopping list if she published it. I adore her books. I had great intentions on keeping this for later in the year but I couldn’t wait. It’s the second instalment of her Burning Chamber series. 

It’s 1572, a decade since the conclusion of The Burning Chambers and Minou and her family are living happily in Puivert. But the planned royal marriage set to unite France has caused an uneasy peace, and peace, for some, is not wanted. 

Minou and her family are invited to the wedding, which means travelling to Paris. It should be a happy occasion but within days of the marriage, her family will be pulled apart in ways you cannot imagine (I gasped!). 

We follow the family, and to an extent, their friends and those who want only harm for them, over a decade. Expect to feel elated, heartbroken and encouraged in equal measure. I didn’t want to do anything other than read this book. It was beautiful, mesmerising and – I hope – left the story sufficiently open for another book in the series. 

Reviewed by Áine Toner