As part of Novels That Shaped Our World, the BBC’s year-long celebration of literature, a panel of writers, curators and critics have selected 100 books that have had an impact on their lives, split into ten monthly themes. June’s theme is Class & Society.
A House for Mr Biswas, by V. S. Naipaul
“Naipaul follows the fortunes of Mr Biswas, the outsider who refuses to conform to the customs of his grander in-laws whose house he lives in. Finally finding a house of his own, he triumphs over the smaller minds who would repress him.”
Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck
“In the din and stink that is Cannery Row a colourful blend of misfits - gamblers, whores, drunks, bums and artists - survive side by side in a jumble of adventure and mischief.”
Disgrace, by J. M. Coetzee
“A divorced, middle-aged English professor finds himself unable to resist affairs with his female students. When discovered by the college authorities he refuses to become a scapegoat and leaves his job and the city to live on a remote farm.”
Our Mutual Friend, by Charles Dickens
“John Harmon is a young man estranged from his family, yet nonetheless on his way from South Africa to London to receive his inheritance - but, according to his father’s will, he can only claim it if he marries Bella Wilfer, a beautiful London girl whom he has never met.”
Poor Cow, by Nell Dunn
“Joy is 22 years-old, with a week-old baby and a head full of dreams. Her husband is a thief, and on the proceeds of a job, they move to a luxurious flat. But then he is banged up, and Joy returns to Fulham to live with her Auntie Emm.”
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, by Alan Sillitoe
“Working all day at a lathe leaves Arthur Seaton with energy to spare in the evenings. A hard-drinking, hard-fighting young rebel of a man, he knows what he wants and he’s sharp enough to get it.”
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, by Brian Moore
“Judith Hearne, a Catholic middle-aged spinster, moves into yet another bed-sit in Belfast. A socially isolated woman of modest means, she teaches piano to a handful of students to pass the day. Her only social activity is tea with the O’Neill family, who secretly dread her weekly visits.”
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, by Muriel Spark
“Miss Brodie is a teacher who exerts a powerful influence over the group of ‘special girls’ at the Marcia Blaine Academy. Each is famous for something & are initiated into a world of adult games & extra-curricular activities they will never forget.”
The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro
“During the summer of 1956, Stevens, the aging butler of Darlington Hall, embarks on a leisurely motoring holiday that will take him deep into the heart of the English countryside and thence into his past.”
Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys
“If Antoinette Cosway, a spirited Creole heiress, could have forseen the terrible future that awaited her, she would not have married the young Englishman. Initially drawn to her beauty and sensuality, he becomes increasingly frustrated by his inability to reach into her soul.”