Geraldine Brooks

How I discovered Geraldine brooks?

It all started on Christmas. I spent the winter holidays with my boyfriend’s family, and I got from his aunt a book. I read the title: “People of the book” by Geraldine Brooks.

The title wasn’t telling me anything and I recognize that I was a bit reserved in reading it. And then I said that I should try. I admit that I was surprised in a good way.

About the author I can’t say much that it isn’t already on the internet, but I will count some of them that got my attention:

1. For writing “The Secret Chord”, published on the 6^th  of October 2015, she got the inspiration from the story of the biblical character “King David” and from the “Hallelujah” song of  Leonard Cohen;
2. She has 6 favorite books of historical fiction:

• The Persian Boy – Mary Renault;
• I Should Be Extremely Happy in Your Company – Brian Hall;
• Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantel;
• An Imaginary Life – David Malouf;
• Cold Mountain – Charles Frazier;
• Ahab’s Wife – Sena Jeter Naslund.

3. Her parents were Danish;
4. She has three alpaca as pets;
5. She was influenced in her writings by Jane Austen;
6. Her favorite library is Fullers Bookshop from Hobart – Tasmania

Quotes by Geraldine Brooks:

A book is more than the sum of its materials. It is an artifact of the human mind and hand.

For to know a man’s library is, in some measure, to know his mind

© picnicontheshelf, January 11, 2018