Anna Josse recommends
Anna Josse is the CEO and Founder of Prism the Gift Fund. Prism was founded in 2005 with a vision to increase the flow of funds into the charitable sector by creating efficiencies wherever possible. A registered charity itself, Prism focuses on effective administration of the giving by individuals, collectives and foundations, making significant gifts to organisations all around the world.
Read on to find out which six books Anna recommends, and why…
“I’ve been part of a book club for the last two years so the choices I have made are partly a reflection of a group of disparate women who share a love of reading. We don’t always agree on what makes a good read but it enables me to draw on a wide selection. And some of those I am choosing I may not have thought of reading, but that’s the beauty of being open to someone else’s thoughts. As a teenager I loved some of the classics that seem long forgotten amongst teenagers of today so perhaps that is where I will start…”
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen
At its core, Pride and Prejudice tells the love story of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, both of whom have to overcome their biases in order to end up together. Some people consider Pride and Prejudice to be the precursor to the modern romantic comedy. Given our obsession with that genre, it's no wonder, then, that Jane Austen's book has been adapted countless times over the years.
I think as a teenager I appreciated the love story but also the challenges of an intelligent woman expected to behave in a certain way during that time period. And of course, it has one of the most famous opening lines of any book: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." I am sure the many successful women we meet today, will be happy to debate this.
Rodham
Curtis Sittenfield
The novel is a reimagining of Hillary Rodham Clinton. What if she had not married Bill Clinton? What would her life have looked like? What would have been her trajectory? A totally absorbing read that combines fiction with factual historic events. It is easy to forget that as one is reading, it is not reality.
Timeless
Nicholas Tchkotoua
I didn’t think I would so enjoy this small engaging novel set in the 19th century in Georgia. Prince Shota d'Iberio of Georgia returns to his country after an education abroad to find himself not only in love with the beauty of his snow-capped homeland, but also with the Russian Princess Taya. The book moves between Paris, Tbilisi, Davos, and the remote Caucasus mountains, while exploring first love and the power of its timelessness. Maybe I do like love stories?
The Marriage Portrait
Maggie O’Farrell
Having really enjoyed Hamnet by O’Farrell I went onto read The Marriage Portrait. This is the story of Lucrezia who is a 16 year old woman and believed that her death was the work of her husband. Based on real historical events this makes it even more engaging. Two powerful families unite through marriage (the House of Tuscany and the House of Ferrara) and the isolated and powerless Lucrezia is found dead. However, the cause of death has never been accepted nor proven, by the di’Medici family or anyone else.
Lucrezia took her dead sister’s place in marriage and against her wishes. She is the link between the House of Tuscany and the House of Ferrara.
The characteristics of the period with its churches and palazzos, and the royal courts was beautifully highlighted. Throughout one felt the sense of impending doom because of the inevitable, which we know about from the beginning.
The Miniaturist
Jessie Burton
Enchanting, beautiful, and full of suspense, The Miniaturist is a story of love and obsession, betrayal and retribution, appearance and truth.
In 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman arrives at a house in the wealthiest quarter of Amsterdam. She has come from the countryside to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt, but instead she is met by his distant and difficult sister, Marin. Johannes eventually appears and presents her with a wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. It is to be furnished by an elusive miniaturist, whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in unexpected ways.
With many compelling characters the book is laced with intrigue and twists and turns.
Anna Karenina
Leo Tolstoy
Let me finish on a classic. It is a masterpiece of literature from 1877. Looking at humanity and life in general in Russia, it provides memorable characters. Anna is a sophisticated woman who abandons her empty existence as the wife of Karenin and turns to Count Vronsky to fulfil her passionate nature - with tragic consequences.
Anna pays a hefty price, not so much because she transgresses the moral code but because she refuses to observe the customs and rules of the hypocritical high society to which she belongs.
I clearly like tragic love stories!