Famed Female Authors: The Attraction Of Books

By: Paul McIndoe
Submitted: 2008-11-04 18:02:59
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As a consequence of the internet, many people had mistakenly believed that the traditional book market in the UK would suffer. However this hasn’t been the case and in 2007 the UK consumer book market alone was worth £2,578 million, up 4% on the 2006 figures. Books have been around for many years, but what is it about books that continually attract readers, despite an ever-growing digital presence?

One of the great things about books is undoubtedly their portability. They can fit easily into your bag or carried by hand and can be a welcome break from the computer orientated world that surrounds us today. With newspapers, magazines, journals and more printed matter now being made available online it can be great to have something tangible you can hold onto and engage with.

To this day, a well-written fictional novel definitely still plays a major role in British life today. A mundane commute to work on a cold winter’s morning can be transformed into a memorable paradise full of adventure and romance just by reading the words in a beautifully crafted story, and can also help to make the journey seemingly pass that little bit quicker. Take a look around you on the bus or train and there's a good chance at least one passenger will be reading a book.

Reading a book on holiday can help you to relax and let your mind escape to somewhere new; whether your taste is historical, modern or contemporary, there are some incredible books that have been written by British authors over the years that are worth reading again and again.

When it comes to literary talent, female British writers - like their male counterparts - have produced many a best-seller; from current authors, such as 'Harry Potter' creator JK Rowling to murder-mystery author Ruth Rendell; while further back in time the Bronte Sisters, Agatha Christie and Catherine Cookson are known to most.

Jane Austen, one of Britain's greatest female writers, was born in the 18th century and had six novels published in the early 19th Century, two of which were published posthumously. The legacy of her most famous works, namely Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park still lives on today through the adaptation of these for the big and small screens. 19th Century romance is still alive and well in 21st Century Britain thanks to Austen’s unique works.

Sue Townsend’s imaginative portrayals of a pubescent male in the Adrian Mole diaries series were an incredibly accurate, highly amusing and at times painful journey through the eyes of a British boy as he turned into a man. Adrian Mole was so popular he also made it onto the small screen and helped bring the books to a whole new audience and received critical acclaim.

This tradition of great female authors in this country has been proudly carried forward into the new millennium by the multi-award winning Zadie Smith, with her first novel “White Teeth” winning the 2000 Whitbread Book Award for best first novel and the Guardian first book award amongst others, as well as selling over a million copies putting it right up there with Britain’s favourite books.

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