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Meet our Book Doctor... Yvonne Battle-Felton, author of Remembered
In our Book Doctor feature, we welcome a guest to prescribe just the right read for any mood or occasion.
Yvonne Battle-Felton, judge for the Jhalak Prize 2021 and author of Remembered, which was longlisted for the Women's Prize 2019, is here to prescribe the best reads for booklovers.
As a busy mum of two primary school age children attempting to home-school for the third time, I find every evening I'm shattered and just can't engage with books as I normally do. Can you suggest some decent reads to engage me and help me escape from being a home-schooling mummy please! – Judith, age 42
Hi Judith! I love to get away with a good book. There's something magical about slipping into someone else's shoes for a little while. I recommend Katy Massey's memoir Are We Home Yet?, A More Perfect Union by Tammye Huf, Inferno by Catherine Cho, and The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave.
I haven't read a book for 25+ years and I'm trying to get back into reading. I like all sorts of reads (except war!). What would be a good starter that will make a good read and hard to put down? – Julie, age 50
Hi Julie, for a book you can't put down, I'd recommend my own book Remembered. It's about family, memory, hauntings, and the search for a place to belong. I also recommend May by Naomi Kruger, anything written by Jenn Ashworth, Malawi's Sisters by Melanie S. Hatter, and Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez.
I have been in a bit of a rut with reading. I would like to be recommended a good read where I can lose myself and have no care of the world around me. I wanted to get into fantasy, I shy away from them. So maybe a fantasy? Thank you! – Shreyashi, age 23
Hi Shreyashi! I love losing myself in good books. Fantasy can be a great way to dive right into a world of possibilities, promise, and problems. If you're looking for interesting characters, vivid setting, and intricate plots, I recommend Master of Poisons by Andrea Hairston – talk about diving into the deep end!
I'd like to read more non-fiction. I've read The Female Eunuch, Backwards and in Heels and La Feminine Mystique as well as some non-fiction from John Steinbeck, but usually I just opt for the more "fun" fiction books. Any recommendations to kind of ease into non-fiction? – Vanessa, age 24
Hi Vanessa, to ease into non-fiction I'd recommend The Address Book by Dierdre Mask. I'd also recommend I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou and The Good Immigrant, edited by Nikesh Shukla. Auto-biographical fiction is another way to ease into non-fiction. I'd recommend Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez and The Residue Years by Mitchell S. Jackson.
I am beginning to realise that my bookshelf isn't very diverse – can you please recommend some "must-read" books that will help me to get out of my own bubble? – Shona
Hi Shona, some must-read books are The First Woman by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, My Darling from the Lions by Rachel Long, Antiemetic for Homesickness by Romalyn Ante, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Inferno by Catherine Cho, What's Left of Me is Yours by Stephanie Scott, Where The Memory Was by Hibaq Osman, You People by Nikita Lalwani, The Book of Echoes by Rosanna Amaka, and I have to include my own book, Remembered.
About Remembered by Yvonne Battle-Felton
It is 1910 and Philadelphia is burning...
The last place Spring wants to be is in the rundown, coloured section of a hospital surrounded by the groans of sick people and the ghost of her dead sister. But as her son Edward lays dying, she has no other choice.
There's whispers that Edward drove a streetcar into a shop window. Some people think it was an accident, others claim that it was his fault, the police are certain that he was part of a darker agenda. Is he guilty? Can they find the truth?
All Spring knows is that time is running out. She has to tell him the story of how he came to be. With the help of her dead sister, newspaper clippings and reconstructed memories, she must find a way to get through to him. To shatter the silences that governed her life, she will do everything she can to lead him home.
