Most book clubs leave me cringing at their choices, but on the basis of the Duchess of Cornwall’s first four novels she’s picked to launch her Reading Room on Instagram, I’m in!
Camilla has selected four uncontroversial and decent novels. As you’d expect from a senior Royal, her choices are confident, and neither cutting edge nor virtue-signalling, but at the same time there’s variety, suggesting she’s a reader with a sincere interest in literature and catholic tastes. No box ticking going on here.
Choosing The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel, the acclaimed conclusion to the Wolf Hall trilogy, suggests she is not in the least bit perturbed that it failed to make this year’s Booker shortlist, despite its popularity, so that’s a statement of confidence in itself.
Her second choice, Restless by William Boyd, a rollicking, female-friendly, spy thriller featuring a young woman who discovers that her mother was a spy in WW2, was published fourteen years ago and won the Costa prize that year. So again Camilla is not feeling under pressure to choose anything new.
Where the Crawdads Sing, a lush, enjoyable tale about a feral recluse growing up in the swamplands of North Carolina by Delia Owens, is one of those rare beasts: the debut that takes off and doesn’t stop. It’s been in the best-seller charts for two years now, has sold over seven million copies, and will doubtless now sell many more. I’ve been meaning to read it and this spurs me on.
Elif Shafak’s The Architect’s Apprentice, about a 12 year-old boy who befriends a baby elephant - which is to be sent as a gift to the sultan, combines emotional warmth and intricate ideas with plenty of rich Ottoman history. Again a smart and sophisticated choice.
I am already looking forward to what she chooses next.
