Leah Swann is the award-winning author of the short story collection Bearings, shortlisted for the Dobbie Award, and the fantasy series Irina: The Trilogy.
Beloved
Toni Morrison
Leah Swann.Credit:
What speaks more to a mother’s desperation than intending to kill her children and herself rather than return to slavery? What astonished me about Morrison’s masterpiece, which is both historical fiction and ghost story, were the sensations she could evoke, such as when Paul D passes through a pool of pulsing red light – like blood, like a heart – and is "soaked" by grief. In Beloved I first recognised how literary techniques – voice, theme, characterisation – can serve a coherent vision.
Jane Eyre
Charlotte Bronte
With its chilling mystery, gothic atmosphere, visceral writing, social commentary, religious critique, host of adversaries, ethical dilemmas and subplots, I found this story of how Jane – a "free human being with an independent will" – falls for the magnetic Rochester and then chooses near-starvation over bigamy to be a fascinating and enlightening demonstration of how character is shaped by conscience.
Joe Cinque’s Consolation
Helen Garner
Anu Singh was arrested in 1997 for drugging boyfriend Joe Cinque with the heroin and Rohypnol that killed him. Garner’s exploration reveals both the banal and archetypal dimensions to this tragedy. I was gripped by the terrifying transcript of Singh’s emergency call in the first pages to the last, where I felt exhausted by the "ragged hole" between ethics and the law, and the unassuaged human hunger for justice. It’s also a masterclass in in creative non-fiction.
Helen Keller’s Teacher
Margaret Davidson
In primary school I was shocked by the predicament of the deaf and blind Helen Keller and enthralled by the true story of partially-sighted Annie Sullivan, who became her teacher. Growing up in a poorhouse, Annie was blinded by cataracts and educated late. With fierce determination, she reached Helen by spelling words into her hand until the spine-tingling moment of understanding and connection: when Annie spelled "water" while holding Helen’s other hand under running water.