New initiative from the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction celebrates the modern day book club
Emily Blunt, Mary Portas and Sophie Ellis-Bextor have shared their favourite books written by women to launch the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction’s new campaign, #ThisBookClub.
Designed to celebrate the modern day book club and the way that novels encourage discussion and bring people together, it will see various events taking place across the country, including literary quiz evenings.
“This is a wonderful way to bring together books and readers, to celebrate twenty fabulous years of the prize and to share favourite novels past and present, with friends, readers and writers,” said novelist Kate Mosse, co-founder of the award and chair of the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction board.
To launch the campaign, Baileys Prize asked three pairs of prominent women – actress Emily Blunt and her sister, the literary agent Felicity; writer Janet Ellis and her daughter, the singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor; and Mary Portas and her wife Melanie Rickey – to pick the books written by women that they would like to share with each other. Emily Blunt chose Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad to share with her sister Felicity, saying: “I just felt like my hair was blown back by it. I believe that a great book can change your life in a way that I don’t think cinema can – a book can resonate with you in such a way, it shifts you forever.” Felicity in turn chose Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life, explaining: “It’s a story of life’s infinite possibilities and the idea of many lives lived and [as an actress], my sister lives many lives!”
For more information on #ThisBookClub, to view full interviews and portraits, to download The Brilliant Woman’s Guide to a Very Modern Book Club or for more information about the #ThisBookClubLive events, visit the website here.
Via: Harpers Bazaar