This week’s Inheritance Books are from the intriguingly named GVR Corcillo – who is a romantic comedy writer and Anglophile.

Hi Geralyn, welcome to Inheritance Books. Tell us a bit about yourself.

Hi Rhoda! I am so psyched to be featured on your wonderful Inheritance Feature. And – I must admit – I am ridiculously thrilled to be here on a British blog! Does that make me sound daft? I don’t care. I miss England! I haven’t been since a semester in college I gleefully spent at the University of East Anglia in Norwich. It was a dream come true for me to spend a semester abroad in England – I have been an Anglophile since I was a 10 year-old kid who discovered the wonder of Agatha Christie. Her books were my constant companions for the next six years. I would spend Sunday evenings watching Masterpiece Mystery with Joan Hickson as Miss Marple, David Suchet as Poirot and James Warwick & Francesca Annis as Tommy and Tuppence. And I adored Roy Marsden as P.D. James’s Dalgliesh. When I was 17 I discovered author Dick Francis and I loved all his jockeys and their horse mysteries. Around the same time I started watching Inspector Morse and got quite a crush on Kevin Whately that’s lasted all the way through Lewis and Hathaway’s murder cases. It is so good to “be back” in England, if only in a cyber kind of way.

Since you’re here, would you like a cup of tea? Milk? Sugar? Lovely. 

So, which book have you inherited from generations above? Why is it special.

For me, growing up was quite frenetic with us four loud kids in a small house. I’m the blonde with my mouth wide open. The baby, my sister Marice, also grew up to be a blonde with a big mouth 🙂 We were always going to different sports, friend’s houses, school meetings. My parents would try to wrangle us all as my Dad worked two jobs and my mom took care of us by day then worked as a nurse by night. Life in my crowded house was crazy and there wasn’t a lot of parent-kid bonding time. Books were my escape from the cacophony, not something to share. So, imagine my surprise the Christmas morning I found a boxed set of Agatha Christie books in my stocking! I’d had no idea that my mom knew how much I adored getting lost in the great Dame’s mysteries! And here were four of her books that I had yet to read – and one of them was Cards on the Table, featuring a character named Rhoda 🙂 But my favorite of the set, which I still have and I still re-read every few years, is The Boomerang Clue(actual British title: Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?) This is my most cherished inheritance. The book is so beloved and such an integral part of my life that you can see that the cover is long gone and that I even scribbled the phone number of a sports pub on it once when it was just lying around handy! I love The Boomerang Clue not only because my mom gave me a gift that I adore to my core, but also because of how this book shaped my appreciation for reading and writing romance. As The Boomerang Clue‘s Lady Frankie and parson’s son Bobby struggle to solve a mystery that they’re not even totally sure is a mystery, they softly and subtly fall in love. There is nothing overt, but the way they get along, the things they say and do, and how they interact during their adventures weave the romance together until you can finally see the picture. So, when the love becomes undeniable, it has been perfectly built up and it is just so right. This book made me realize at a young age that the kind of romance that captures me isn’t fueled by lust, but by how two people come to LIKE each other. You know what I mean…like the romances inTruman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Jane Austen’s Emma.

 I love Agatha Christie books. They used to be my go to books for relaxation. I know exactly what you mean about the slow burn romance, too. 

Which book would you leave to future generations? Why?

The book I would leave to future generations is a Newbery Medal Winner, so it is a novel intended for kids and young adults, but it is an unforgettable book  no matter how old you are when you read it: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien. This book has so much to say about tolerance and compassion, without ever actually saying it. The heroes are super smart rats who can read – and thus they learn that they are among the most reviled of all animals on earth. Yet they persevere in their noble and daring goals. You come to love the rats, especially Justin, and you come to root deeply for their cause – yet they are rats. I first read this book in fifth grade – and I took its picture so you can see, if you look really closely, where I wrote my first name “Geralyn” along the pages.  I have re-read this book throughout my life, and every time it is compelling, profound, and enlightening.

Like you Rhoda, I write the books I want to read. And the more delightful and insightful gems I read, the better writer I become. Your Inheritance Feature introduces me to so many of these literary jewels that I must thank you for all the hard work you put into this blog!

You’re welcome! I love doing this blog. I often pick up book recommendations from people’s posts, but the best ones are when someone reminds me of a much loved book that I’d not picked up in ages and I end up going to the library to borrow it. 

Thank you for sharing your Inheritance Books with us. Best of luck with your book. Drop by again soon!

You can find out more about GVR Corcillo on her website, Facebook, Twitter or Goodreads. Her latest novel She Likes it Rough is published by Blackbird Press and is available now.

As this is part of a book tour for She Likes it Rough, GVR is offering a rather cool giveaway – a $25/£15 Victoria’s Secret Gift Card!