This week’s Inheritance Books are from Cara Cooper.

Hi Cara, Welcome to Inheritance Books. Tell us a bit about yourself.

Thank you so much for inviting me on your blog. I write sweet romance pocket novels for My Weekly and People’s Friend. These are bite-size novellas, the sort you can read just in an afternoon on the sofa or a morning in the garden. I also have a serial in progress that I am writing for People’s Friend. My beautiful daughter, pictured with me (left) often helps me at the proof reading stage and is invaluable in going through the manuscript to help me make corrections. I hope one day she might become a writer too although I think she’s more likely to turn to crime as Tess Gerritsen is one of her favourite authors. As in many of my pocket novels, my serial was initially inspired by a place – Sorrento in Italy. Like most of us when we go on holiday, I tend to fall in love with the destination and think how much more interesting and exciting it would be to live there. Writing a novella about places helps me to live in them, if only in my head! One childhood holiday destination I’ve always loved is the Isle of Wight which featured in my book ‘The Sanctuary’ available as an e-book from Astreaea Press via this link  ‘The Sanctuary’ first came out as a pocket novel and the large print version from Ulverscroft can be found in UK libraries.

 Which book did you inherit from the generation above? Why is it special?

The book I have inherited from my father is Russell Braddon’s ‘The Naked Island’. An extraordinary book detailing Braddon’s four years spent in a POW camp. It might at first seem a strange book to recommend to a teenager but as a fifteen year old as soon as my father leant me his battered old paperback I was hooked. For this is a true tale of horrendous privation which Braddon told with such wry good humour it turned out as a positive reaffirmation of life and friendship under the most difficult of circumstances. The book is illustrated by fellow prisoner, Ronald Searle. In the days well before the internet, ‘The Naked Island’ often regarded as the best war book of all time became a bestseller simply by word of mouth. The fact that it is a far from miserable book says everything about Russell Braddon’s abilities as a writer, and his abilities as a man to turn a negative experience into a positive one.

 Which book would you leave to later generations? Why?

The books I would leave to future generations are any of P G Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster books. Another of my father’s favourite authors, reading Wodehouse is like drinking a fizzy tonic. His books are set in an innocent world of eccentric buffoons with ridiculous names like Gussy Finknottle. The scrapes which Bertie Wooster gets himself into are absurd and convoluted but the stories are beautifully crafted. All comes well in the end, with the help of the infinitely superior manservant Jeeves. If you ever feel like a short story with a real feelgood factor, turn to Wooster.

I hadn’t heard of The Naked Island before. I shall check it out. As for Wodehouse, I couldn’t agree more. Thank you so much for sharing your favourite books, Cara. Take care. Toodle pip.

Cara Cooper can be found on Facebook and Twitter @caracooper1 and at her blog. ‘The Sanctuary’ available as an e-book from Astreaea Press. The Sanctuary’ first came out as a pocket novel and the large print version from Ulverscroft can be found in UK libraries.