Fay Weldon's six favorite books

Fay Weldon is a novelist, playwright, and screenwriter who, at the age of 16, lived in a grand London townhouse as the daughter of the housekeeper. In addition to winning a Writers' Guild Award for the pilot of Upstairs Downstairs, she is a Commander of the British Empire whose books include Praxis, shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction; The Heart of the Country, winner of the Los Angeles Times Fiction Prize; Worst Fears, shortlisted for the Whitbread Novel Award; and Wicked Women, which won the PEN/Macmillan Silver Pen Award.

One of her six favorite books, as told to The Week magazine:

Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathanael West

A black comedy but with nothing funny about it, a Depression (and depression) novel more apt today than ever, as a young (male) advice columnist takes on board the awfulness of life. Nothing changes. Once read, this book is never forgotten.

Read about the other books on Weldon's list.

Miss Lonelyhearts is one of Ann Patchett's most important books.

--Marshal Zeringue