Want to know what books Lynda La Plante recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Lynda La Plante's favorite book recommendations of all time.
1
Using fiction to explore further his investigation into the Brontës' lives, noted true-crime author James Tully creates a murder mystery darker than anything produced by their imaginations and reveals a hidden side to their literary myth. In 1845, Rev. Arthur Bell Nicholls came to Haworth Parsonage to be the new curate. His arrival ignited the passions beneath the four Brontë siblings' isolated life on the Yorkshire moors. Within two years, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Agnes Grey were published. Two years after that, Branwell, Emily, and Anne were dead. By 1855, Charlotte was also dead,... more Using fiction to explore further his investigation into the Brontës' lives, noted true-crime author James Tully creates a murder mystery darker than anything produced by their imaginations and reveals a hidden side to their literary myth. In 1845, Rev. Arthur Bell Nicholls came to Haworth Parsonage to be the new curate. His arrival ignited the passions beneath the four Brontë siblings' isolated life on the Yorkshire moors. Within two years, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Agnes Grey were published. Two years after that, Branwell, Emily, and Anne were dead. By 1855, Charlotte was also dead, after barely a year of marriage to Nicholls. The causes of their demise have never been fully investigated but simply incorporated into the Brontë myth. Told through the parsonage maid, Martha Brown, The Crimes of Charlotte Brontë penetrates the claustrophobic world where the Brontë sisters wrote their stories of tumultuous passions and twisted love. less 
Lynda La PlanteI bought this because of the title, and after reading it became so interested in the Bronte family that I am working on a television drama called The Bronte Saga for the BBC. (Source)
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2
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, C. J. Hogarth | 3.75
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821-1881) was a Russian novelist and writer of fiction whose works, including Crime and Punishment (1866) and The Brothers Karamazov (1880), have had a profound and lasting effect on intellectual thought and world literature. His literary output explores human psychology in the troubled political, social and spiritual context of 19th-century Russian society. Considered by many as a founder or precursor of 20th century existentialism, his Notes from Underground (1864), written in the embittered voice of the anonymous underground man, was named by Walter... more Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821-1881) was a Russian novelist and writer of fiction whose works, including Crime and Punishment (1866) and The Brothers Karamazov (1880), have had a profound and lasting effect on intellectual thought and world literature. His literary output explores human psychology in the troubled political, social and spiritual context of 19th-century Russian society. Considered by many as a founder or precursor of 20th century existentialism, his Notes from Underground (1864), written in the embittered voice of the anonymous underground man, was named by Walter Kaufmann as the best overture for existentialism ever written. His characters fall into a few distinct categories: humble and self-effacing Christians, self-destructive nihilists, and rebellious intellectuals; also, his characters are driven by ideas rather than by ordinary biological or social imperatives. His other works include: Poor Folk (1846), The Village of Stepanchikovo (1859), The Insulted and Humiliated (1861), The House of the Dead (1862), The Gambler (1867), The Idiot (1869), The Possessed (1872), The Raw Youth (1875) and A Writer's Diary (1873). less Lynda La PlanteI like this novel due to the extraordinary background on how it was written, at the same time as he was writing Crime and Punishment. He had a certain time frame and a page count of 160 pages to submit within four months. He had agreed a contract in September that he had to submit a new novel to the publishers, Stellovsky, by the first of November. In the event of failure to produce this book... (Source)
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3
When an infected bolt of cloth carries plague from London to an isolated village, a housemaid named Anna Frith emerges as an unlikely heroine and healer. Through Anna's eyes we follow the story of the fateful year of 1666, as she and her fellow villagers confront the spread of disease and superstition. As death reaches into every household and villagers turn from prayers to murderous witch-hunting, Anna must find the strength to confront the disintegration of her community and the lure of illicit love. As she struggles to survive and grow, a year of catastrophe becomes instead annus... more When an infected bolt of cloth carries plague from London to an isolated village, a housemaid named Anna Frith emerges as an unlikely heroine and healer. Through Anna's eyes we follow the story of the fateful year of 1666, as she and her fellow villagers confront the spread of disease and superstition. As death reaches into every household and villagers turn from prayers to murderous witch-hunting, Anna must find the strength to confront the disintegration of her community and the lure of illicit love. As she struggles to survive and grow, a year of catastrophe becomes instead annus mirabilis, a "year of wonders."
Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a village in the rugged hill country of England, Year of Wonders is a richly detailed evocation of a singular moment in history. less Lynda La PlanteA remarkable story about the Great Plague of London and holds the reader’s attention as if a terrible crime has been committed and wondering what the outcome can be. (Source)
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4
Down-and-out drunk Terry Lennox has a problem: his millionaire wife is dead and he needs to get out of LA fast. So he turns to the only friend he can trust: private investigator Philip Marlowe. Marlowe is willing to help a man down on his luck, but later Lennox commits suicide in Mexico and things start to turn nasty. Marlowe is drawn into a sordid crowd of adulterers and alcoholics in LA's Idle Valley, where the rich are suffering one big suntanned hangover. Marlowe is sure Lennox didn't kill his wife, but how many stiffs will turn up before he gets to the truth? more Down-and-out drunk Terry Lennox has a problem: his millionaire wife is dead and he needs to get out of LA fast. So he turns to the only friend he can trust: private investigator Philip Marlowe. Marlowe is willing to help a man down on his luck, but later Lennox commits suicide in Mexico and things start to turn nasty. Marlowe is drawn into a sordid crowd of adulterers and alcoholics in LA's Idle Valley, where the rich are suffering one big suntanned hangover. Marlowe is sure Lennox didn't kill his wife, but how many stiffs will turn up before he gets to the truth? less Lynda La PlanteRaymond Chandler is a master of the crime novel and his short stories are a terrific read that I return to very often. (Source)
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5
On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues.
As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. At the center of his study are the amoral young killers Perry Smith and Dick Hickcock, who, vividly drawn by Capote, are shown to be... more On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues.
As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. At the center of his study are the amoral young killers Perry Smith and Dick Hickcock, who, vividly drawn by Capote, are shown to be reprehensible yet entirely and frighteningly human. In Cold Blood is a seminal work of modern prose, a remarkable synthesis of journalistic skill and powerfully evocative narrative. less Lynda La PlanteOne of the reasons I like this true crime novelisation is down to the fact it was so out of character for Capote and took everyone by surprise. It is also an excellent, almost biographical, insight into the two young killers’ minds. (Source)
R J ElloryI think in all honesty it is one of the finest books ever written. It took him six years to finish it because he had to wait for the court case and the final verdict which was the two perpetrators being executed. (Source)
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