Yahoo Finance Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Has a Book Club—Check Out All of Her Picks
- 1/11
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Has a Book Club—Check Out All of Her Picks
Following the success of the two recommended reading lists she released during the pandemic, the Duchess of Cornwall has launched a new literary project designed to celebrate books and their creators. With "The Duchess of Cornwall's Reading Room," Camilla will regularly release new book selections in groups of four, and a new batch has just been announced for summer reading.
“To me, reading is a great adventure. I’ve loved it since I was very small and I’d love everybody else to enjoy it as much as I do,” she explained. “You can escape and you can travel and you can laugh and you can cry. There’s every kind of emotion that humans experience in a book.” Since releasing her previous reading lists, the Duchess noted that she's heard from people "all over the world" about books and reading—something she says has been "a lovely way of communicating."
Below, every book that's earned the Duchess's Reading Room seal of approval thus far, including her latest picks for "season three."
Courtesy of Clarence House - 2/11
The Remains of the Day
Vintage
amazon.com
$8.99
“Kazuo Ishiguro's beautiful book explores several different themes: dignity, love, social constraints, the passage of time, the importance of banter,” Camilla said. “This book is a brilliant portrait of an ageing English butler and his fading, insular world in post-war Britain. An evocative and beautiful story of life and lost love in one of the greatest country houses between the wars.”
amazon.com - 3/11
The Book of Dust: The Secret Commonwealth (Book of Dust, Volume 2)
Knopf Books for Young Readers
amazon.com
$10.92
This is the second installment in Philip Pullman's The Book of Dust trilogy. Set in the same world as Pullman's His Dark Materials, the YA fantasy series finds the heroine Lyra unraveling mysteries. "I have enjoyed every book that Philip Pullman has written and have followed Lyra through all her trials," Camilla said. "This book is no exception, as we immerse ourselves in this fantasy's mystical adventures. Storytelling at its best..."
amazon.com - 4/11
Girl: A Novel
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
amazon.com
$17.41
Girl tells the harrowing story of young women abducted by the terrorist organization Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria, and while Camilla has yet to publicly share her thoughts on the book, Girl's author, Edna O'Brien, has been called "one of the English language's greatest living writers" by NPR's Michael Schaub.
amazon.com - 5/11
A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel
Viking
amazon.com
$13.00
"A wonderful book which gives the reader an understanding of life in post revolution Moscow, through the eyes of a Russian aristocrat sentenced to life in Moscow's Metropol Hotel," the Duchess said of A Gentleman in Moscow. Set in the 1920s, this novel is centered around a man sentenced to house arrest by the Kremlin. Author Amor Towles details the inner journey his protagonist faces while spending his days in the hotel's attic and grappling with what it means to live with purpose.
amazon.com - 7/11
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Charlie Mackesy
amazon.com
To kick off the initiative at the end of December 2020, the Duchess decided to highlight Charlie Mackesy's The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. "Warm, funny, profoundly moving and beautifully illustrated, this charming book leaves you feeling better about the world," she wrote in her endorsement.
Courtesy Amazon - 9/11
Where the Crawdads Sing
Delia Owens
amazon.com
Camilla also selected the bestseller Where the Crawdads Sing—a book about a reclusive young woman living in coastal North Carolina, who finds herself at the center of a murder investigation—in her first round of picks. The royal is in good company: Reese Witherspoon also selected the novel for her book club, and is currently working to adapt it for the big screen.
Courtesy Amazon - 10/11
Restless
William Boyd
amazon.com
The Duchess previously highlighted Restless in her first-ever reading recommendation list, released last April during the U.K.'s first COVID-19 lockdown. "A wartime thriller featuring a resourceful woman in grave danger... a great read," she said of Boyd's novel.
Courtesy Amazon - 11/11
The Architect's Apprentice
Elif Shafak
amazon.com
Another novel Camilla previously included in her "Lockdown Reading List," The Architect's Apprentice is set in Istanbul at the height of the Ottoman empire. The Duchess calls it "a magical, colorful tale."
Courtesy Amazon
