This week’s guest is Sharon Booth, writer of cosy rom coms and books about modern witches. Hi Sharon, welcome to Inheritance Books. I’ve got chocolate Hobnobs, especially. While I go find them, why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hi, Rhoda, and thanks so much for inviting me onto your blog. I grew up in Hessle, East Yorkshire, and spent a lot of my time reading. I was a real bookworm and frequently visited the local library which, in those days, was above the town hall. I can still hear the creaking of those stairs as I climbed up to what was then my favourite place in the world — usually in the company of my dad.
Both my parents read a lot. Mum mostly read Catherine Cookson novels and Dad preferred non-fiction, and almost every evening they would sit in the living room, each absorbed in their current read. I’d be in an armchair, head buried in another book. I’m very grateful that I had parents who loved books.
Reading was probably the reason I loved school. I was lucky because all three of my schools had well-stocked libraries, so I had loads of material to go at. It wasn’t unusual for me to stagger home with seven or eight library books in my school bag. Once the teacher realised I actually read them all, he helped me search for suitable novels to take home. He knew I was pony mad and scoured the shelves for pony books for me. The shelves were full of them and I was in heaven!
Enid Blyton kickstarted my passion for reading. The first book I was ever given was a Noddy book, which I treasured, but I soon progressed through the likes of Brer Rabbit and Mr Twiddle to the Secret Seven, Hollow Tree House, Mistletoe Farm, Willow Farm, Cherry Tree Farm, Malory Towers and of course the Famous Five. My favourite presents at Christmas were always the three books that my parents bought me. Before long, I wanted to try my hand at writing my own stories, just like Enid Blyton. Who’d have thought it would lead me to becoming a full-time author?
Which book have you inherited from a generation above? Why is it special?
I didn’t inherit this book, but it’s one I’ve loved since my primary school days. It’s Six Cousins at Mistletoe Farm by Enid Blyton (who else?) and it was the book that sparked my interest in ponies and pony books. I quickly followed it up with the sequel, Six Cousins Again. I just loved the story of two sets of three cousins who, through difficult circumstances, find themselves sharing a home, even though they barely know each other and have little in common. The three country children live on Mistletoe Farm and are appalled to have their three townie cousins thrust upon them. And, to be fair to them, the townie children are pretty awful — particularly Melisande, who thinks her country clod cousins are beneath contempt. The story shows how the six of them learn to get along together, and how each of them gradually changes in some way, becoming more tolerant and understanding of their cousins and their own siblings. The sequel is equally as good. I lost my childhood copies, but I found this edition on eBay and snapped it up. It contains both stories in one volume and I still love them. Reading them takes me straight back to summery childhood days, lying on my bed, sun streaming through the open window, book in hand, lost in the world of Mistletoe Farm, while downstairs Mum was busy cooking and Dad was out in the garden, mowing the lawn. I can almost smell that freshly cut grass. Happy days.
Oh, I loved the Mistletoe Farm books. To this day, Stir up Sunday makes me think of them.
Which book would you leave to future generations? Why?
I thought long and hard about this, but eventually realised there was only one real contender. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend is, for me, an absolute classic. It was a book that I loved immediately. I knew Adrian! I understood him completely, and I could relate to his family and friends and neighbours. These were people I felt at home with. It’s hilariously funny, but also incredibly moving at times. The things that happen to Adrian aren’t huge events on a global scale, but they affect him deeply and are extraordinary in their ordinariness. His mother’s shenanigans with Mr Lucas, her ardent feminism, the boil-in-the-bag curries, his father’s unemployment, the dog’s frequent trips to the vet, Adrian’s incessant worries about his lack of vitamins and the state of his skin, not to mention his yearning for the unattainable Pandora — it’s perfection. And it’s a brilliant social commentary on working class life in the eighties. Everyone should read the Adrian Mole books!
Thank you for sharing your Inheritance Books with us Sharon. Best of luck with your latest book.
You can find out more about Sharon through her various online homes. Her latest book, To Catch a Witch, is the third and final novel in The Witches of Castle Clair series. It will be published on April 28th and is available to pre-order now.
Sax Rohmer’s Tales of Secret Egypt. This book wasn’t passed down to me as such but my dad found it during one of his many forays into old, hidden second hand bookshops and bought it for me, knowing how fascinated I was by anything to do with Ancient Egypt. I inherited my father’s love of both books and history and, since he passed away, I often think back to my childhood, where Dad and I would spend hours wandering around castles and museums, my mum and my brothers waiting impatiently for us in the carpark or café! This book reminds me of my dad and our shared love of reading.
My daughter has not inherited my love of books or of reading, although she has inherited my creative side but expresses hers through art. My son, however, has inherited my passion for books and is an avid reader. JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings Trilogy is the one I would like them to inherit. It might seem like an obvious or over-used choice, but the reason I would like them to inherit is more to do with the ethos of the book and the story, of good triumphing over evil, of the message that ‘even the smallest person can change the course of the future’. It’s a message I feel very strongly about.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
I’m fascinated by the Restoration period with the plague and the Great Fire of London and so I loved 
I am a high school English teacher by trade. How I wound up teaching is quite funny. Back in my early twenties when I was living in Toronto studying mime I loaned a friend $100.00. Sadly she was never able to pay me back. Her partner at the time was an astrologer so in lieu of the money I was offered a class in astrology and a chart reading. I knew I’d never see the money so I took the class and chart reading. According to my chart I was destined to be both a writer and a teacher. The writer part made sense as I had already written my first play and had it produced in the Rhubarb Festival in Toronto but the teacher part seemed a bit weird. Still, I figured, why not, I’m not making any money as a mime so I applied for Education at the University of Regina.
When I was a little girl I used to read a book belonging to my mother titled Amy Vanderbilt’s Complete Book of Etiquette: A Guide to Gracious Living. I know my mother read it and had incorporated some of its advice into her life, especially the sections on “Dress and Manners” and “Home Entertaining”. My mother was an extremely beautiful woman and when she dressed for a social night out she was absolutely stunning. I remember she had this beautiful green dress she kept in her closet. She had worn it in her youth and I secretly told myself my mother had been wearing that dress when my father had fallen in love with her. She also threw the most amazing parties. She dressed my siblings and I in our Sunday best to serve her guests. I loved serving dainties to her guests; it always made me feel so grown up. Though it has been decades since I’ve opened this book it sits on my bookshelf and I always think fondly of my mother when I see it.
I wouldn’t leave just one book. I would leave the entire series. The first book I recall sparking my love of literature was Laura Ingalls-Wilder’s Little House in the Big Woods. I could smell Pa’s pipe and feel his rough beard against my cheek. One time when my uncle tickled me with his beard I pretended I was little Laura Ingalls. I read the entire series from beginning to end and then I read it again. I even picked it up later in life when I found the set at a used bookstore. Even in my forties I loved the story of this little girl and her life in the woods, on the banks of Plum Creek, on the prairie, in the town, during the harsh winter, being a young teacher, falling in love and becoming the mother of her own children. I most especially loved her telling her fiancé that she would not say the word ‘obey’ in their wedding vows. I smiled and was proud of Laura Ingalls. This series turned me into an avid reader.
Rhoda Baxter 