Journalist, novelist and biographer Louisa Young has written six books under her own name and co-authored the bestselling children's trilogy Lionboy with her daughter Isabel Adomakoh Young, under the pen name Zizou Corder. Her first book, A Great Task of Happiness, a biography of her grandmother Kathleen Scott (sculptor and widow of Antarctic explorer Captain Scott) was published in 1995. Baby Love, Young's debut novel and the first book in her Egyptian trilogy, was listed for the Orange prize for fiction in 1997. In 2011, her first world war novel, My Dear, I Wanted to Tell You, was shortlisted for the both the Costa novel of the year award and the Wellcome Trust book prize. The sequel to this book, The Heroes' Welcome, is published on 22 May.
Book: Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead
This is about ballet and dancers' relationships with their bodies. It's about competition and failure and love and sex and family, and it's full of things that might have been quite cliched ideas but they're not, because it's written so intelligently. It's set in 70s New York and it's like a very intellectual, extremely funny Black Swan, but much better than Black Swan. It's absolutely beautifully written, a top-class novel set in a fascinating world. I did ballet as a small child; I was not a natural, to put it mildly. But I did learn for about 12 years, so I known the terms. There's lots of jealousy, in very subtle ways.
Music: Britten Sinfonia
Everything this astounding small orchestra do is interesting. They often play at Wigmore Hall or at the Barbican, and in Norwich and Cambridge as well. I am completely in love with the lead violinist, Jacqueline Shave. She directs the orchestra while playing the violin – how can you do that? I have such an admiration for people who can do things like that, where I would not know where to begin. I'm not a musician; I play the guitar incredibly badly. I always enjoy a night of beautiful music, it doesn't matter what school it is – I might go to see an orchestra or a punk band from LA.
TV: Gogglebox
Gogglebox is hysterical. It means you don't have to watch telly because you can just watch other people watching telly. It's quite like The Royle Family, but real. I love the posh drunkards – everyone loves them – and I loved it when the middle-aged men were all salivating over Nigella Lawson and not admitting it a few months ago. It's great to see normal people, in everyday life, being incredibly funny – often funnier than people who are professionally funny. I'd never go on anything like Gogglebox myself – God, no. I like the idea of a Gogglebox of people watching Googlebox – you could go on for ever!
Exhibition: Turner and the Sea at the National Maritime Museum, London
I have a tradition of missing exhibitions. You hear that they're going to be on for months, and then you don't actually get round to seeing them. What I really wanted to do was get on the boat down the Thames to Greenwich to see Turner and the Sea. Turner's work is so relaxing on the eye. It was going to be a nice water-related day out – but the next thing I knew, the exhibition was over. But a day out to Greenwich, on that beautiful boat where you can get a cup of tea or a glass of champagne, looking out at the city – what could be nicer? I don't go to Greenwich very often, but it's the kind of thing I ought to do because, as a Londoner, it's right there.
Pub: The Lighthouse, Deal, Kent
I'd recommend this pub/bar/cafe which is run by a mother-and-son team in this not-very-big town by the seaside. Last time I was there they had a 1950s band with a double bass – they were great. They have folk singers, jazz … there's live music almost every night of the week. It's independent and very eclectic – I think it's great that people are doing that kind of thing. They get all ages and generations in there just having a lovely time. I've got friends who live nearby who introduced me to The Lighthouse, but I don't get to go very often. If I lived closer, I'd be there the whole time.
App: Monument Valley
Fortunately I have an ancient phone, because if I had a modern one I would spend way too much time on Monument Valley, a gorgeous little app where a strange young girl in a pointy hat wanders to and fro up and down dreamscapey buildings, and just when you think you've steered her somewhere it goes all Escher on you, and you/she are crossing some physically impossible divide from a fantasy palace into a mountainside via a floating bridge in a fifth dimension. The graphics are absolutely lovely, and the overall effect both calming and thrilling which is a bit magic. It's all rather Moominish – the girl is so mysterious, and I imagine her being Tove Jansson – and terribly satisfying.
