Sara Pascoe: ‘I actually think everyone should read this book’

“The reason I loved it is that I really wished it was true. And when I say that it was I was too old: I was at secondary school. And I would take Enid Blyton to school with me and I would read in the toilets at break time, which, I know, makes me sound like a really cool guy…”

“[Maya Angelou] is perfect to study for children at school, because she uses language in a really, really original way. I actually felt like I was reading a child at the time, I remember, that’s what affected me so much, as I felt like a child had written it. In my head, it wasn’t an adult woman talking to me, it was someone of a really similar age to me.”

“There’s something about brilliant writing, when actually it’s the simplicity, the fact that it’s not trying very hard, that makes you let go. I actually think everyone should read this book.”

“I knew I wanted to have an iris Murdoch book. And then I couldn’t choose which of the ones to talk about. She writes really good men, really flawed, but they make sense to me. There’s lots that I find very aspirational about her.”

“It’s very interesting to read stuff that’s completely different to how you feel, I think that it’s important sometimes as a mental exercise to read things you disagree with, and to find out what does correlate or how you would argue back.”