[Joely]

Over the years, I've read many amazing books in my life, and it's difficult to isolate one. The book that started me on my fantasy journey was Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien, and I grew up with it.

Most recently, the book that had the single most profound effect (and I mean profound as in it completely changed my entire outlook in a breath) is A Short History of Tractors In Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka.

It's not a great PD or self-help book. It's a funny, fictional tale of two daughters coping with their elderly Ukrainian father, living in the UK and trying to marry a woman some forty years younger than him. It's light, and it's lovely. It made me really get in touch with the idea that I didn't have to crush myself into this perfect family idea. I'd grown up in an abusive household, but we all had to play this happy family thing, so I had crushed myself down a great deal. My parents were godlike and ruled my life emotionally, even though I tried to escape I remained their emotionally. When I finished the book and put it down I felt a surge of confidence, and clarity, and felt more at ease with myself than at any other time in my life. This is why I think fiction very often teaches us more than we'd like to admit.