A Moment With Renita D’Silva

Renita D’ Silva

Renita D’Silva’s novel, Monsoon Memories was released in 2013 and her second novel, The Forgotten Daughter was recently released by Bookouture. Renita talks about the books that she’s read that have made an impact on her.

Oh there are so many. I am reading constantly and I try and read as variedly as I can. While writing ‘MonsoonMemories’, some of the books that made a huge impact were Julie Myerson’s ‘Something might happen’,Chimamanda Ngosi Adichie’s ‘Purple Hibiscus’, MaggieO’Farrell’s ‘The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox’ and Rose Tremain’s ‘The Road Home’.

While writing ‘The Forgotten Daughter’ I read Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Blind Assassin’ and was blown away by the sheer beauty of her prose.

The book that made a big impact on me growing up was Arundhati Roy’s ‘The God of Small Things’. I obsessed over it – the plot, her prose, her beautifully evocative descriptions, her boldly original usage of the English language – the way she manipulated it to suit her narrative, the way she told a beautiful story while making a point.

I also love the way Hilary Mantel is able to get inside Cromwell’s head in ‘Wolf Hall’ and ‘Bring Up the Bodies’, to show us the man, his thoughts, his life, his failings – I absolutely admire that. I love Jodi Picoult and the way she gets you hooked from the first page and keeps you hooked until the last, the way she takes you and your emotions on a rollercoaster ride.

I read Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ as a teenager and have reread it several times since and find something new to admire every time. I can go on and on, sorry. I know you asked for just one book, but books are an obsession of mine and I can’t stop once you get me started…

Visit Renita’s website to learn more about her books.

The Forgotten Daughter is now available to buy in paperback and e-book.

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Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.