Shelf Reflection: Lisa Emanuel

Shelf Reflection is a monthly series where we explore the bookshelves and reading habits of our featured First Book Club authors.

This month’s reflection is from Lisa Emanuel, whose debut novel The Covered Wife (Pantera Press), a compelling story about the lengths some of us will go to find belonging, was shortlisted for the 2019 KYD Unpublished Manuscript Award. Read Ellen Cregan’s review, and stay tuned for more on our website and podcast later in the month!

What are you currently reading?

I’ve just finished Outline, the first book in Rachel Cusk’s trilogy. The narrator is on a trip to Athens to teach a writing course. It’s really hot. She recounts various social encounters and conversations she has while she’s there. I started it years ago when the final book in the trilogy came out, but picked it up again recently after seeing Cusk in conversation with Annabel Crabb at the Sydney Writers’ Festival and devoured it quickly. I’m planning to move straight on to Transit, and then everything else she’s written.

I’m halfway through The Truth About Her by Jacqueline Maley. Jacqueline and I attended university at the same time, although we didn’t know each other. Her mother was in my Faber Academy course, and we’ve both published our first novels within a month or two of each other. I love reading her commentary in the Sydney Morning Herald. Of course, I’m going to read her book! And it’s fabulous, with gorgeous writing and great characters.

I’m almost finished Fury, by Kathryn Heyman, which is a memoir of her time spent at sea as a young woman. This book has taken me through a roller coaster of emotions, but right now I’m feeling empowered. I’ve been recommending it to everyone.

Finally, I’m listening to Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart for my book club.

What kind of reader are you?

As you can see from the above, I’m a haphazard reader with lots of books on the go. Partly, this is because of the way I buy and consume books: compulsively, as soon as I hear or read about them, and before I’ve finished whatever else I’m reading at the time. There are practical reasons too. I read on my Kindle at night when the lights are out or when we (used to) travel to avoid weighing down the bags. I always have an audiobook on the go for when I’m exercising, commuting, or doing housework. The upside is that I can tailor my reading to my mood and situation, and whatever my circumstances, I’m never without something to read.

I’m a haphazard reader with lots of books on the go… Whatever my circumstances, I’m never without something to read.

What does your book collection look like?

A mess I’m afraid. I share my smallish house with four other people and one dog so my books are scattered all over the place. I work in a study which also functions as our spare (i.e. junk) room and my son’s coding den, so there’s only space for one bookcase. There’s a massive pile of books beside my bed and in the broken cupboard of my bedside table; and another ad-hoc collection in a shelf of my wardrobe.

What’s one book you found critical to the writing of your own book?

My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok. I first read this book when I was fairly young, and I’ve come back to it many times at different stages, and it always moves me. It’s set in New York in a closed Chassidic community. It’s about a young boy who is an artistic prodigy, and the difficulties this creates for him and his family within the confines of their religious community. I’m in awe of Potok’s sparse, emotive language, and his ability to create a palpable sense of oppression on the page.

What book/s are you constantly recommending other people read?

Everything by Elizabeth Strout. I just love the way she writes—I don’t care if nothing much happens.

If you had to pick one book to live in for the rest of your life, which would it be?

I’d like to live in Rodham for a time. I’m a political junkie, have been obsessed with US politics in recent years like everyone else, and I seriously love Curtis Sittenfeld’s fictional Hillary. I fancy myself as her right-hand woman on the US Presidential campaign trail against (spoiler alert) Bill Clinton, although not for the rest of my life. I couldn’t handle the pace long term.

Lisa will be speaking about her book at an author event on Tuesday 13 July at Gertrude & Alice Cafe Bookstore in Sydney. Tickets available here, and include a drink, nibbles and a copy of the novel. 

The Covered Wife is available now from your local independent bookseller.