Charlotte Griffiths shares some gripping reads that have inspired big-screen adaptations
Words by Charlotte Griffiths
You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry
Summer is the perfect season to pick up an Emily Henry novel. If you’ve managed to resist her brightly coloured covers and multiple-award-winning romances until now, just give in – you won’t regret it.
You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry
Start your adventure through Henry’s back catalogue here, with best friends and total opposites Poppy and Alex as they take another of their firmly platonic trips. They’ve holidayed together every summer for ten years, but two years ago something happened on their annual adventure. They haven’t spoken since, but Poppy’s realised the last time she was happy was with Alex, so she’s determined to reconnect with him – even if it means staying in a flea-bitten Palm Springs motel with no air con in the lead-up to Alex’s brother’s wedding.
Henry leads us through different time periods, slowly revealing glimpses of their past relationship and other travels, piecing together the puzzle in deliciously satisfying slow motion. Will they ever realise that ‘opposites attract’ is a cliché for a reason?
Once you’ve finished this novel, not only are there many more Henry delights to experience – there’s also a Netflix adaptation currently in post-production starring Emily Bader and Tom Blyth. Henry confessed to being an ‘anxious wreck’ while waiting to find out who would be cast in the lead roles, but ‘could not feel more confident’ about the choices. Named after the US version of the book, People We Meet on Vacation should air later this year.
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
This summer’s must-see movie is director Marianne Elliott and screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s adaptation of Raynor Winn’s smash-hit and award-winning 2018 memoir. Now a feature film, it stars Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs as Raynor and her husband Moth as they walk the 630-mile coastal path stretching from Somerset to Dorset through the landscapes of Devon and Cornwall.
The book and film tell the story of the couple’s lived experience of tackling this challenging hike after losing their home and income in one fell swoop, followed by Moth receiving a life-limiting medical diagnosis, all of which sounds quite bleak. It is on the face of it, but this book is also laugh-out-loud funny, deeply life-affirming and stacked with beautiful descriptions of the natural world.
With no money, no shelter and no plan besides ‘just keep walking’, homeless Raynor and Moth slowly reconnect with nature and each other through the curiously redemptive power of long-distance walking – finding the strength that comes with discipline, the hope that can spring up in the harshest of environments and the fact that home can be wherever you want it to be.
Whichever way you choose to engage with Raynor and Moth’s story, the stunning scenery and beautiful writing will see you reaching for your rucksack and booking a train to the south-west. See you at Paddington station…
Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley
Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley
Only published in March of this year, this quite extraordinary debut novel has been snapped up for a film adaptation starring Austin Butler and Saoirse Ronan. Set across the US in the early 2000s, the book follows two twentysomething students on separate but inextricably entangled creative journeys that bring them together and push them apart in an equally frustrating and totally compelling manner.
Joe Morrow is an astonishingly talented singer and musician; Percy Marks is the untrained yet naturally gifted producer and songwriter who isn’t afraid of sharing her opinions, and has the power to transform Joe’s tracks into once-in-a-lifetime classics. After a frenzied discussion about Hall & Oates in a Berkeley student bar, Joe – who already has a long-term girlfriend – asks Percy to help him with a song he’s been working on, and both of their lives change forever.
Over several years of collaboration, they quarrel, break each other’s hearts and the hearts of others who accidentally stumble into this life-long love story. Unputdownable, unforgettable and drenched in early-noughties music nostalgia, this must be read before the adaptation arrives. It’s the ideal book for music lovers over a long summer break.
Telly addicts
Discover the original stories behind some of our favourite TV series, too!
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Chances are that one adaptation of this classic already has your heart (1995’s BBC version forever!), but Dolly Alderton’s upcoming take for Netflix might just swing it – and it makes for a good opportunity to catch up on the original text.
Jack Reacher by Lee Child
The UK’s obsession with Jack Reacher is only growing by the day. If you’re not yet acquainted with Lee Child’s mega-smash crime thriller series, this summer could be the time to start. Stack up the 29-book-strong series in paperback and get reading.
This Is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay
Part hilarious anecdote, part historical document – these diaries written by an NHS junior doctor from 2004 to 2010 were turned into a brilliant BBC series starring Ben Whishaw, and both versions of the tale are well worth your time.
Check out June’s Book Club and explore the perfect reads for this year’s Pride Month
