{"id":83894,"date":"2018-10-24T13:39:25","date_gmt":"2018-10-24T02:39:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/?p=83894"},"modified":"2018-11-02T16:08:17","modified_gmt":"2018-11-02T05:08:17","slug":"top-10-escapist-reads-kelly-doust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2018\/10\/24\/top-10-escapist-reads-kelly-doust\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 Escapist Reads by Kelly Doust"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"kellyAustralian author, Kelly Doust, is a Lifestyle Publisher by day and a novelist by night. Author of Dressing the Dearloves<\/em><\/a> and Precious Things<\/em><\/a>, she has also published a series of craft books – A Life In Frocks<\/a>, Minxy Vintage<\/a><\/em> and The Crafty Minx<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

With a background in book publishing and publicity, Kelly has worked in the UK, Hong Kong and Australia, and has freelanced for Vogue,\u00a0<\/em>Australian Women\u2019s Weekly<\/em>\u00a0and Sunday Life Magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n

In celebration of the recent release of her latest book, Dressing the Dearloves<\/em>, Kelly Doust has shared her list of Top 10 Escapist Reads<\/strong>. These are the ultimate books to lose yourself in, the kind of books that will thoroughly engage and transport readers to another world …<\/p>\n

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\"kelly<\/a><\/p>\n

Lily Allen\u2019s My Thoughts Exactly<\/strong><\/p>\n

I love rock and pop autobiographies (Keith Richards\u2019s Life<\/em> <\/a>and Alex James\u2019s Bit of a Blur<\/em><\/a> are another two favourites in this category) because rock stars live a life like no other. The highs and lows of performing, the peripatetic lifestyle, the fact that the media hounds you and turns you into a cartoon version of yourself which either drives you mad or makes you turn to drugs, so you can deal with the madness… it\u2019s utterly fascinating and all completely bonkers.<\/p>\n

Allen experienced this and more, with her marriage falling apart in the process \u2013 despite her desire to create a life impervious to the effects of fame. It\u2019s raw, powerful, moving and a battle cry for modern women who refuse to be pigeonholed. Loved it.<\/p>\n

Click here to order<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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\"kelly<\/a><\/p>\n

John Purcell\u2019s The Girl on the Page
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\nMy day job is in publishing so it\u2019s captivating to read about the world you operate in, but anyone outside the industry will enjoy this as well. Purcell speaks so authentically about publishing and writers, but The Girl on the Page reads like a saucy, page-turning thriller. It also posits some really interesting questions about the value of literature and what it means to read.<\/p>\n

Click here to order<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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\"kelly<\/a><\/p>\n

Trent Dalton\u2019s Boy Swallows Universe
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\nI adored this book and couldn\u2019t put it down. I think it might stay with me forever. Boy Swallows Universe<\/em> has everything: a coming of age narrative, a love story, knotty family relationships, local drug lords and thong-wearing thugs. Plus, a babysitting ex-crim called Slim (aka the Boggo Road Houdini). Escapes description in terms of category, but it\u2019s just pure magic.<\/p>\n

Click here to order<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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\"kelly<\/a><\/p>\n

Belinda Alexandra\u2019s The Invitation
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\nThe sumptuous setting of Paris and then New York during the Belle Epoque; the enthralling life of its writer-heroine, Emma Lacasse; the descriptions of the homes and society and the clothes – oh, the glorious clothes! – made me devour The Invitation<\/em> in a matter of days.<\/p>\n

Full of compelling plot twists and a portrait of two sisters who could not be more dissimilar, this is a page-turning historical novel with a thriller-like quality.<\/p>\n

Click here to order<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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\"kelly<\/a><\/p>\n

Ann Patchett\u2019s Commonwealth
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\nPatchett\u2019s earlier novel, Bel Canto<\/em><\/a> is writing at its most transcendent, but Commonwealth<\/em> is a totally different sort of book which looks at a family in crisis. Generational dramas that play out over time are so fun, because you get to keep the camera rolling. Wonderful characters, tricky family dynamics and heavenly writing.<\/p>\n

Click here to order<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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\"kelly<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Donna Tartt\u2019s The Goldfinch<\/strong><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve probably read all the reviews or read it yourself by now, but I do love Tartt\u2019s writing. The hero of this book isn\u2019t its protagonist but Boris, a childhood Russian friend who makes his appearance about a third of the way through and lodges somewhere in your solar plexus.<\/p>\n

The descriptions of the New York antiques-dealing world are totally absorbing, but the very beginning will have you reminding yourself to breathe \u2013 it\u2019s that tense. A brick of a book, it\u2019s nothing short of a masterpiece, and who really wants writing like this to end? All hail Donna Tartt!<\/p>\n

Click here to order<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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\"kelly<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Gilbert\u2019s The Signature of All Things<\/strong><\/p>\n

The research in this book blows me away. Spanning the period from the late 1700s through to the end of the 19th century, it tackles big ideas like evolution and the human soul on an intimate, thoroughly engrossing scale. Alma Whittaker and her irascible father, Henry are the sort of characters you rarely come across in fiction \u2013 complex, heartfelt and utterly unforgettable. I loved them to bits.<\/p>\n

Click here to order<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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\"kelly<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Michel Faber\u2019s The Book of Strange New Things<\/strong><\/p>\n

I read a tonne of fantasy and science fiction when I was younger but haven\u2019t given the genre much time since. This book made me feel like that\u2019s a mistake. I don\u2019t want to ruin it for you with too much detail because it\u2019s worth just diving in. It hit me not with a bang, but with a whimper \u2013 and that was SO good. Incredible writing, I don\u2019t think Faber\u2019s put a single word out of place. I read somewhere that it took almost ten years to write. It shows.<\/p>\n

Click here to order<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"kelly<\/a><\/p>\n

Sheri Fink\u2019s Five Days at Memorial<\/strong><\/p>\n

The American healthcare system scares the bejayzus out of me. Ever since I read Barbara Ehrenreich\u2019s Nickel and Dimed, I\u2019ve been so grateful for Medicare. This book is a meticulously researched lesson in everything that can go wrong when you put a large corporation in charge of assigning value to human life. It\u2019s enough to make you want to riot.<\/p>\n

Click here to order<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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\"kelly<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mary S. Lovell\u2019s The Mitford Girls<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mary S. Lovell said that when she started writing this book, she thought it would be \u2018a frothy biography of life in Society between the wars\u2019. But when she started delving into the story of the Mitfords, Lovell saw how their polarized ideologies mirrored those of society at large at the time, and how their sibling bonds were quickly strained by politics and the onset of the second world war. To think that Sydney and David Mitford \u2013 the parents of these extraordinary girls and their brother, Tom \u2013 spawned a famous novelist (Nancy), a runaway communist (Decca), two fascists (Diana and Unity) and two relatively normal women for their social class (Pam and Debo) is somewhat astounding. A sparkling, vivid book. Totally brilliant.<\/p>\n

Click here to order<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Click the link below to hear Kelly Doust chatting with us about her latest book, Dressing the Dearloves<\/em>.<\/p>\n