Lizzie Frainier's Desert Island Books
Featuring the perfect rom-com and a book that proves good things truly do come in small packages...
I first came across Lizzie Frainier when I read about her The Holiday-inspired house swap in The Telegraph (which is well worth a read if you haven’t already). Soon after, we connected on Instagram (I think I slid into her DMs), and I’ve continued to admire her writing from afar—particularly her piece on how a skiing holiday proved more successful for her love life than a decade of dating in London. So, it was with great delight that I learned she was writing a memoir—aptly named Main Character—about finding love and the mishaps she encountered along the way.
I was lucky enough to get my hands on an advance copy back in December, and I devoured it in a day. Lizzie and I also met up for a festive walk around Borough Market, where we chatted about her book and the uncanny similarities we’d both experienced in our love lives, and I was thrilled when she agreed to take part in my Desert Island Books series.
A heartfelt ode to love in all its forms and a refreshingly honest take on modern dating, Main Character is a must-read. To get your hands on a copy, consider supporting local, independent bookstores by buying it from Bookshop.org. Or, why not become a paid subscriber to my Substack? You'll be automatically entered into my weekly draw to win a book by one of my Desert Island Books guests—and Main Character could soon be winging its way to your bookshelf!
Featuring the perfect rom-com and a book that proves good things truly do come in small packages, read on to discover the eight books Lizzie would pack for her dream desert island escape...
Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
I love romcoms, and this is the perfect one. I reread it recently and laughed out loud the whole way through. It’s many years on since my first reading as a late teen, and if anything I only adore Mark Darcy more, and despise Daniel Cleaver even more. No matter when you pick it up, it’s funny, comforting and heart-warming—exactly what you need on a desert island. The book also holds a special place in my heart because of how much I relate to clumsy and chaotic Bridget Jones, having had my fair share of dating disasters, embarrassing workplace mishaps and solo Valentine’s Days. She reminds me that’s totally okay, and that I’m not alone.
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Oh how I cried at this book. Scratch that. Wept. Khaled Hosseini’s Kite Runner is arguably the most famous of his works, but it was this follow-up to his debut that completely captured my heart and then tore it into pieces. And sometimes, you do just need a good cry. It’s the story of two women from different generations living in Afghanistan under Taliban control, and the tragedy that leads to their lives intertwining. A masterclass in storytelling.
Simple by Ottolenghi
Food brings me great comfort, and there is no cookbook that I’ve used more than the London millennial house share bible that is Simple by Ottolenghi. It’s so ubiquitous now, you can count the number of housemates by the copies stacked in the kitchen. I’d like to have it with me to flick through the pages, remembering the countless times friends have gathered in my kitchen to tuck into preserved lemon roast chicken and crispy rose harissa potatoes, or the summer evening at home dipping focaccia into chilli fish with tahini. Now, what are the chances I can find pomegranate molasses on this island?
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
The queen of the dystopian novel would have to be in my rucksack. I first read this one for my A-level English class, and thought it was one of the best books I’d ever read. I still think that. We even had a go—as part of our coursework—at writing the opening chapter of our own dystopian story, copying her favoured literary techniques like neologisms (made-up words), metaphors and repetition. I loved the feeling when—after tinkering with a sentence for a while—a pleasing set of words suddenly slotted together perfectly like a puzzle. It planted a seed that one day I too would like to write a book.
Heartburn by Nora Ephron
This slim novel—by the author that penned When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle—is certainly proof that good things come in small packages. I read it in a single afternoon, and enjoyed it all the more knowing it’s a roman-à-clef (based on real people with invented names); as a reaction to the author’s messy divorce. It tells the tale of a writer (like Ephron) who finds out her husband is cheating (like Ephron) during her second pregnancy (like Ephron). It’s witty, and wicked, and wonderful, and many of the lines have stayed with me for years to come. In particular: “Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.” Words to live by.
How to Fail by Elizabeth Day
I’m a big non-fiction and memoir reader (perhaps, it’s the journalist in me, forever fascinated by the details of other people’s lives) and this one effortlessly blends the two. It’s based on Day’s podcast of the same name, where she interviews famous faces about their biggest failings and what they’ve learnt from them. Here, those interviews pepper the book, and it’s broken down into themes including dating and work, with much insight about the author’s own life. As someone who chronically puts too much pressure on herself to do well in all spheres of life, I find it hugely comforting to remind myself that even the most successful people have made mistakes. It’s perhaps important to remember that as I attempt to build a raft on the beach to help get me back home…
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
I am fascinated by sibling dynamics in real life, and in particular sisters. This novel is one of the most interesting and engrossing takes I’ve read on that relationship, following the Vignes twins as they grow up together in the Deep South and then end up living in different states as adults, with different racial identities. It’s a story that completely drew me in, and lingered in my mind long after I finished the final page.
Emma by Jane Austen
To my shame, I’ve never read Jane Austen. And with all the time I’ll have lounging about in the shade of a palm tree, this would seem as good a time as any to tuck into one. She’s also my mum’s favourite author, and I’d love to discover why the books are so special to her. I asked my mum which one to bring and she instantly said, “Emma, because she’s an imperfect heroine, she is foolish and silly and meddles and makes terrible mistakes, and yet Jane Austen defies us not to like her.” Sounds like my kind of main character.