Here are just a few of my favourite books:

The Darling Buds of May/My Uncle Silas by HE Bates – HE Bates makes the world a beautiful place to live in. His stories are sunny, sumptuous and seriously sexy!

Love on a Branchline by John Hadfield – Civil servant, Jasper Pye, is posted to Arcady Hall in Suffolk and soon succumbs to the magic of the place, and the charms of Lord Flanborough’s three beautiful daughters. This is a beautiful book full of warmth and humour.

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith – Courtship in a crumbling castle, and midnight swims in the moat. Wonderful!

Village School by Miss Read – The first in a delightful series set in the village of Fairacre. Warm, witty and seriously addictive with characters you’ll want to return to again and again.

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome – I wish I’d written this book and a few of his others too! Nancy Blackett is one of my favourite fictional characters and I love the adventures these kids have particularly the ones set in the gorgeous Lake District and the Suffolk coast.

Chloe by Freya North – Wonderful characters, beautiful settings, and a wicked narrator!

Lorelei’s Secret by Carolyn Parkhurst – The heartbreaking story of a man whose wife dies suddenly, her death witnessed only by their dog, Lorelei. This is a wonderful first novel which shows how important every single minute is with our loved ones and poses the question, can we ever truly know somebody?

After You’d Gone by Maggie O’Farrell – One of the most moving stories I’ve ever read. And certainly the only one featuring an axolotl.

Take One Young Man by Vivien Kelly – A beautiful story about a grandfather and grandson, and the woman they both love.

Emotional Geology by Linda Gillard – An exquisitely written book set in the Hebrides about loss and recovery. Lyrical, moving and daring.

The Angel in the House by Kate O’Riordan – A trainee nun falls in love. Gorgeous!

The Peculiar Memories of Thomas Penman by Bruce Robinson – A little piece of magic from the writer of Withnail and I, this novel is just too strange and wonderful to describe. Read it and scream!

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens – Pip, Joe, Magwitch, Ms Havisham, Jaggers, Wemmick and Aged P … the gang’s all here!

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – I first read this when I was seventeen.  It’s my favourite Austen and I never tire of reading it.  Truly one of the greatest love stories.

And – just for fun – here are some of my favourite fictional characters: Pop and Ma Larkin, Mrs Pringle, Nancy Blackett, George Kirrin, Joe Gargery, Elizabeth Bennet, the BFG, Cat Royal, Toad, Dr Lydgate, Beatrice Lacey, Jem Merlyn, Uncle Matthew, Mary Ann Singleton, Becky Bloomwood and Japser Pye…

And I couldn’t list my favourite books without listing a few of my favourite films. In no particular order, here are some films I can lose myself in time and time again:

Truly Madly Deeply, The Double Life of Veronique, Three Colours Trilogy, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Shop Around the Corner, The Clock, L’Appartement, Amelie, When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, Howard’s End, A Room With a View, Carrington, Bus Stop, Wings of the Dove, The Princess Bride, Labyrinth, Whistle Down the Wind, The Railway Children, Hannah and her Sisters, Betty Blue, Before Sunrise/Before Sunset, Say Anything, I Capture the Castle… this list could go on forever!