As well as being a keen pianist (she practices daily for 90 minutes), Tara Palmer-Tompkinson can also read. In this week’s Shelf Life, T P-T tells us exactly what she’d do if she didn’t find Sidney Sheldon on someone’s bookshelf and why Santa Sebag Montefiore is a godsend for most men. Tara’s latest novel Infidelity is out now.
1) As a child, what did you read under the covers?
Beatrix Potter’s Squirrel Nutkin. And
then later, Princess Daisy by Judith
Krantz.
2) Has a book ever made you cry, and if so which one?
Touching the Void by Joe Simpson because it was
such a spiritual adventure of man and mountain.
3) You are about to be put into solitary confinement for a year and allowed to take three books. What would you choose?
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Jerusalem by Simon Sebag Montefiore and The Complete Works of Shakespeare.
4) Which literary character would you most like to sleep with?
Dorian Gray before he changed his look.
5) If you could write a self-help book, what would you call it?
It’s already written! The Naughty Girl’s Guide to
Life by Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and Sharon Marshall (available now from all good bookshops).
6) Michael Gove has asked you to rewrite the GCSE English Literature syllabus. Which book, which play, and which poem would you make compulsory reading?
The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and Paradise Lost by Milton
7) Which party from literature would you most like to have attended?
I would like to go either with or as Julia Flyte to a party at Brideshead.
8) What would you title your memoirs?
ME, ME, ME
9) Which literary character do you dream of playing?
Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany’s
10) Which book would you give to a lover?
The French Gardener by Santa Sebag Montefiore because most men need some help with passion and romance.
11) Spying Mein Kampf or Dan Brown on someone’s bookshelf can spell havoc for a friendship. What’s your literary deal breaker?
If they don’t have any novels by Sidney Sheldon
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