Sarah Perry reflects on the powerful impact of literature in her writing journey. She cites W.G. Sebald's The Emigrants as a pivotal work that reshaped her understanding of the novel. Perry describes how the book's gravity and precision initially deceived her into believing it was non-fiction, revealing the novelist's freedom to blur the lines between fact and fiction.
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She praises J.L. Carr’s A Month in the Country as a flawless novel that she continually revisits. Perry finds its ability to encapsulate the horrors of the Great War through the story of a man restoring a fresco in an English church almost supernatural.
Currently, Perry prefers not to consume much fiction while writing. After spending six years on her book Enlightenment, she is catching up on her reading. She is currently engaged with Tessa Hadley’s The Past, appreciating its elegant prose and sharp observations on human relationships. Following that, she plans to read Percival Everett’s Wounded and delve into a collection of Barbara Vine novels, noting that every writer can benefit from the narrative skills of a good crime novelist.
Perry expresses her astonishment that Edward St Aubyn has yet to win the Booker Prize, despite his exceptional work. She highlights Mother’s Milk, the final novel in St Aubyn's Melrose series, which was shortlisted in 2006, as a remarkable achievement in contemporary British literature. She admires how St Aubyn maintains his elegant style while tackling the complexities of human consciousness and behavior.