Brightening my inbox this morning was the nicest email from Deborah, thanking me for recommending Sue Gee's Reading in Bed which helped her through a recent illness.
It's always lovely to hear that books I've enthused about have been similarly enjoyed by people who have picked them up as a result of my urging, but it's particularly gratifying to learn that a book has been useful in some way, or helped at a difficult time.
We often talk about comfort reads and the good they can do, but following on from Deborah's kind message I wondered if anyone could suggest books which have been helpful on a deeper level. When we need more than just a cosy day on the couch, but rather reassurance, wisdom, the feeling of being in safe hands - true comfort at times of anxiety and stress - is there an author or book (fiction or non-fiction) you've found to provide that?
No need to give personal information when answering that question, but if you have any candidates for what we might call a bookish first aid kit or literary medicine cabinet, it would be good to hear about them.
(More frivolously, see this post and this one).
The painting is Spring Day at Boscastle by Charles Ginner; Virago used it a few years ago for the cover of the superb One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes, one of my top favourite books.
