The Good Books, Elissa Soave: ‘I am very lucky I grew up surrounded by books’

Elissa Soave on the book she always recommends, what she’s reading now, and the author who has inspired her. 

The first book I remember reading:

I was very lucky that my mum was a reader so I grew up surrounded by books. I remember being particularly struck by Enid Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree. I am aware that some people find aspects of Blyton’s writing problematic today but as a child, I was only concerned with being transported to an enchanted land and meeting unique characters such as Moonface and Saucepan Man that have stayed with me till this day. The wonderfully imaginative descriptions of character and place, and the sheer escapism of her books, have meant that they stand the test of time, so much so that I read the Faraway Tree collection to my own children.

A book I recommend to everyone:

It depends who I am talking to but I’ve yet to meet a Scottish reader who has not enjoyed The Trick Is To Keep Breathing by Janice Galloway. The book examines the life of a young teacher who has severe mental health problems and her search for the ‘trick’ to carry on living. This sounds very depressing but in fact, Galloway’s skill as a novelist keeps us completely invested in the protagonist’s struggle and gripped by her story, even injecting some wry humour. It’s hard to believe this was Galloway’s first novel, it is so well-constructed and innovative in form.

The best book I have read in this year:

I’ve read so many brilliant books this year, it was difficult to narrow my choice down to one but I’m going to go for Juno Loves Legs by Karl Geary. This book has so many elements that I love in fiction – set in working-class Dublin, it explores the friendship between two outsiders desperate to escape their cruel family circumstances. Ultimately heartbreaking, nonetheless it fills the reader with hope as to the power of a loving friendship. 

The book I am most looking forward to:

I don’t know that either of these books exists yet but if I am permitted to fantasize, I am most looking forward to new fiction from Anne Donovan (who wrote the wonderfully funny and affecting Buddha Da) and Janice Galloway. A new novel from each of these writers in 2025 would be the dream.

A book I didn’t finish:

Some years ago, my brother bought me a copy of Life: A User’s Manual by Georges Perec and inscribed it with the words, ‘This is one of the best books I have ever read’. I’m afraid I’ve never been able to get very far into it. I’ve studied the map and considered the author’s advice on how to read the book (as a giant puzzle rather than a story) but I find I am unable to get past the lists (so many lists!) and the descriptions (beautiful but never-ending) to find my way into the story itself. However, that inscription plays on my mind and every so often, I wonder what I am missing and pick it up again.

An author that has inspired me:

James Kelman has long been – and remains – a huge inspiration to me. It’s not just his writing (though A Disaffection is one of my all-time favourite novels), it’s his attitude to who is permitted to be a writer and his approach to the creative life generally. It’s his absolute insistence on writing the fiction that he wants to write regardless of the vagaries of the publishing industry. There is a lot of talk of resurgence of working-class novels like those by Douglas Stewart and Irvine Welsh but I sometimes think people forget that these novels would not exist at all without the trailblazing Kelman.

The book I am reading now:

I am currently reading What Doesn’t Kill Us by Ajay Close. Set in Leeds in the late 70s/early 80s, it’s a fictional retelling of the story of the Yorkshire ripper. The author has absolutely nailed the sexism of the time, so much so that even as you are admiring the prose, you also want to throw the book across the room and scream at the injustice of it all. It won the Fiction Book of the Year in Scotland’s National Book Awards, and deservedly so.

Elissa Soave is a Scottish writer of contemporary fiction. She won the inaugural Primadonna Prize in 2019 and her debut novel, Ginger and Me (HQ, HarperCollins, 2022) was shortlisted for the Saltire Society First Book of the Year Award. Her second novel, Graffiti Girls is out now. 

Read more of The Good Books here.

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