We are so thrilled to chat with Irene Allison, author of Stay, Breathe with Me. Here, Irene shares a few facts about herself and the five books that have inspired her writing most!
An enormous flashlight!
My husband and I live on an island off the Canadian West Coast with nights so inky black, that unless there’s a full moon, it’s impossible to see anything (including the door to the bathroom)! Not to mention our wild, northern Pacific storms that just love knocking out the power and leaving us in the dark!
An adventurous spirit that has led me around the world and even into the wilderness!
Skyward, in the loft of our old country house, high among the boughs of the massive fir trees, surrounded by windows and light.
Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O’Dell. This heartbreaking, yet uplifting story of the physical and spiritual survival of a young girl abandoned on an island shows the power of human resilience. It stunned me as a child and taught me about possibility and courage and love in the harshest of conditions.
Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt. This memoir of a miserable Irish childhood is so stunning in its honesty, so raw and harsh and funny and touching, and so rich with “voice”, it’s one of the few books that I’ve read in one sitting, then after I finished it, started right back on page one and read it again. With mastery, McCourt shows the power of “voice”, raw-edged humor, and scathing pathos to depict misery and survival in unbearable conditions.
On the Contrary, André Brink. This “infernally beautiful” story of a Boer adventurer at the time of apartheid, his love for and ultimate betrayal of a black slave, is told from the perspective of a liar and scoundrel and shows how fiction can be not only a highly entertaining page-turner, but also a tool for social change in its critique of an unjust system.
Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer. This story of a young man’s quest for spiritual, emotional, and physical freedom reveals the conflict, despair, and hubris of pushing the limits while desperately attempting to chase the pain of an unhealed father-son relationship. The weaving together of facts, the raw depth of Krakauer’s emotional depictions, and the stunning descriptions of the wilderness, clawed at my heart by powerfully depicting the universality of truth through the truth of one single human being.
When the Body Says No: Exploring the Stress-Disease Connection, Gabor Maté, MD. Don’t be put off by the title. This beautiful exploration of the human side of illness, written by a doctor-humanitarian, combines science with a deep heart-centered focus, and the kind of compassion that resonates with my own writing and the kind of reading I love.
What are the five books that inspire you most? Tell us below!
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