|
|
|
|
|
|
|
My Top Ten Favourite
Films
- The Godfather 1, 2 and 3 (and probably 4 if it is ever made)
- Shrek 2 – just has the edge on 1
- The Shawshank Redemption
- Mildred Pierce – Joan Crawford at her very best, great lipstick
- Some Like It Hot
- La Vita e Bella (Life is Beautiful)
- Jules et Jim
- Jean de Florette
- The Incredible Journey – the bull terrier just making it over the last hill!
- Dawn Patrol – surely no-one has ever made a more dashing airman than Errol Flynn
Books
- The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins – Marion is the best heroine ever and Count Fosco is definitely the best villain
- The Mating Season by P.G. Wodehouse – my Desert Island book
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- Nice Work by David Lodge – clever, sexy and full of characters you would actually like to know
- Brother of the More Famous Jack by Barbara Trapido – for anyone who has ever fallen in love with a whole family
- Imaginary Friends by Alison Lurie – I love all her books but this strange little story is my favourite
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt – one of the best books about university ever written (all this and murder too)
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee – defies criticism
- Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh – more university and doomed Catholicism
- Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons - “Worst fears realised darling. Seth and Reuben too. Send Gumboots.”
Places in Italy
- Siena – for me, the most beautiful city in Italy
- The Amalfi Coast – the coastline of your dreams, blue sea, white houses, death-defying roads
- The Mountains of the Moon – the hidden Tuscany, wild mountainous country full of secrets
- Rome – especially by night
- Nola – where my grandfather was born, a bustling Neapolitan town where bell-ringing was invented
- Florence – where my grandmother was born, gorgeous and knows it
- Sansepolcro – a hidden gem: weekly markets, great restaurants and Piero della Francesca too
- Citta di Castello – the perfect Umbrian town
- Venice – everything they say is true, it is also curiously spooky with those shiny black and gilt gondolas (oddly like floating hearses) moving silently around
- Abruzzo – another forgotten region but it has everything – mountains, sea, castles, great shopping, wonderful (spicy!) food and wine.
|
|
