The British novelist on discovering Molly Keane, coming to Dickens late, and the books that taught her the importance of writing about history

My earliest reading memory
My mother always read me a bedtime story, but by around age three, I was not looking at the pictures but reading the text. After that, I read to myself, and would read four books a week from the library.

My favourite book growing up
As a child I read Elizabeth Goudge’s The Little White Horse, and the combination of history and gothic fantasy was very powerful for me. It’s realistic and charming and frightening without being nightmarish. It started my love of historical fiction, and has since become a family favourite for my own children.