An Interview with Alison Penton Harper

I’m torn between two choices. Ferdinand the Bull by Munro Leaf, about a Spanish bull who refused to fight. He was a gentle soul who preferred to sit under his favourite tree and smell the flowers. Either that or Kathleen Hale’s Orlando the Marmalade Cat. He was marvellous.

2. Which book do you wish you had written and why?

Whenever I finish a great book I invariably wish that I had written it. If we’re going to get into specifics here, I guess I might choose The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov for its wild originality. I read it twenty years ago and it blew my brain up. Or perhaps the dreaded Da Vinci Code, strictly for the money, you understand. I’ve never read it.

3. What was the last book you read?

I’ve just finished reading Annie Proulx’s Close Range: Wyoming Stories. It’s a stunning collection. Really gritty. With a family to slave around after, time’s always an issue so I’m a big fan of short stories.

4. If you could be any fictional character who would you be?

Maybe a superhero of some kind? That would be quite fun. Or Lizzie Bennet. The thought of a bit of romance with the smouldering Mr Darcy is enough to steam up anyone’s spectacles. Mind you, I’m getting a bit saggy for that kind of thing.

5. What is your worst vice?

I can’t answer that. My children would certainly never speak to me again. Or my husband, come to think of it. Besides, I doubt there’s sufficient room on the website to publish the list. How I’ve stayed out of jail is anyone’s guess.

6. Where is your favourite place in the world?

Probably Lake Como. That first glimpse of it as you sweep out of the road tunnel that cuts through the foothills of the Alps is pretty hard to beat. It has a micro climate all of its own. Very dramatic. Yes. I think that would do nicely.

7. What makes you smile?

A lot of things make me smile. I’m that kind of person.

8. What makes you cry?

Frustration. Weepy films. Moving books. The terrible things that happen in the world around us. I should point out that I’m emotionally unstable most of the time so I tend to cry with monotonous regularity. My family’s used to it. ‘Oh dear. Mum’s off again.’

9. What is your favourite time of day?

Early morning before anyone else has got up. And late at night when everyone else has gone to bed. I like to keep my options open.

10. How are you coping with the media attention?

To be afforded such a shining launch pad is beyond lucky, although there is further to fall.  I’m looking forward to writing pieces for the press and I would love to do radio.  It’s so intimate.  No-one’s camping on my doorstep yet, which is a bit of a blow.

My perfect dinner date would be Oscar Wilde.  I suspect he would know a thing or two about how to show a girl a scintillating time without expecting a shag at the end of the evening.  And I’ve never read such beauty.