Sunday, May 05, 2019

Four books that changed Carmel Reilly

Carmel Reilly writes for children and adults. She has worked as an educational writer for almost two decades and is the author of more than 300 titles of fiction and non-fiction for children and young teens. In 2011 she won the Partners in Crime Short Story award and in 2016 she was awarded a Varuna Residental Fellowship to develop her first novel, Life Before. Born in New Zealand, she now lives in Melbourne, Australia.

At the Sydney Morning Herald she tagged four of the books that shaped her love of literature, including:
Case Histories
Kate Atkinson

To be honest when I read this first book in Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie series 15 years ago I didn’t consider it a crime novel. What I loved about it was the way it blended wonderful characterisation with sharp wit, intelligent insight and puzzle-piecing, page-turning momentum. When I analysed it a little more I realised that it was the perfect crossover book — crime, literature and popular fiction all rolled into one.
Read about another entry on the list.

Case Histories is among Fiona Barton's eight best cold-case mysteries and Shirley Henderson's six best books.

--Marshal Zeringue