Pat Doherty
AKA Mammy, is a retired civil servant with an insatiable appetite for reading. From an early age she devoured the classics, developing a passion for authors such as Charlotte Brontë and John Steinbeck. Nowadays, her genre of choice is thriller, and she can often be spotted in cafés and restaurants around the country with a Pinot Grigio in one hand and the latest Jane Casey in the other.
Who was the first writer you ever obsessed over?
It might have been Enid Blyton. She created a world that was very easy for me to relate to as a child. She captured the desire that children have to go out into the real world and have adventures.
What book have you reread more than any other?
That’s easy. Jane Eyre. When I was ten, my auntie Jane was kind enough to give it to me when I was sick with the measles. I remember liking it the first time but finding it very sad. As I got older, I kept on returning to it. I think I must have read it 15-20 times over the years. In fact, I even have it on my Kindle now.
What’s the strangest book you’ve ever loved?
Probably War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy. It took me a long time to read it. I had a kind of a love/hate relationship with it. It had this strange combination of ballrooms and battlegrounds, and both environments were depicted with such vivid detail. The character arcs were also strange. You felt you knew where characters were going but then they would end up disappointing you. Although I wouldn't read it again, it is still one of the most memorable things I’ve ever read.
Who is your favourite contemporary writer?
My favourite contemporary writer is Jane Casey for her series of crime novels. She writes great plots with very engaging characters and has a new book out almost every year; which is something I really appreciate!
What’s your favourite film adaptation of a book?
Far from the Madding Crowd with Julie Christie and Terence Stamp. Alan Bates and Peter Finch are also great in it and I actually thought it was better than the book. I highly recommend it.
Do you have a favourite poem?
That would be The Song of Wandering Aengus by W.B Yeats. It’s just so haunting and beautiful.
What are you reading right now, and what are you going to read next?
Right now I’m reading Michael Connolly’s latest book, The Proving Ground. It features the same character as The Lincoln Lawyer. It's a crime thriller about a murder linked to a chatbot of a tech company which is about to be bought out in a billion-dollar deal. I’m also looking forward to my son’s next novel, The Pinot Grigio Killer. He’s promised me it will be an absolute bloodbath, so I’m very excited.
