Find out what prank Grady Hendrix would pull on his rescuers if he was ever trapped on a

What Book…

American Author Grady Hendrix

… are you reading now?

I’m re-reading the best book I’ve read in ages. It was written 99 years ago and fell out of print for a while, but it has recently been reissued.

Lolly Willowes: Or The Loving Huntsman was a huge hit when Sylvia Townsend Warner published it in 1926, so I’m not sure why it has been forgotten.

Written in the tone of a P.G. Wodehouse who cared about women, it’s the story of a middle-aged woman who is tired of being invisible because she doesn’t have children, so moves to a small village and takes up Devil worship.

It works out well for her. To say more is to ruin its surprises, but if anyone ever feels like this world isn’t for them, I highly recommend picking up Lolly Willowes. Or Satanism. Or why not both?

… would you take to a desert island?

I know this is where I’m supposed to say Middlemarch or The Complete Works Of Shakespeare, but I’d probably rather bring something about how to get off a desert island.

If I had to pick anything it’d be a large book of blank pages and a pen with infinite ink so I could write down wild lies about my time on the desert island. Thinking about my rescuers finally arriving and prying this diary out of my dead, skeletal arms and being completely confused would keep me entertained for years.

‘This one book re-enchanted my entire world’: Folklore, Myths And Legends Of Britain was the book that got Grady Hendrix into reading

… first gave you the reading bug?

Back in 1978, when my family lived in London for a year, I found a copy of the 1977 Reader’s Digest edition of Folklore, Myths And Legends Of Britain and everything made sense.

It was full of maps and lavishly illustrated with woodcuts of Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins scowling before rows of women hanging from gallows and Katherine Ferrers, the highwaywoman, holding up a coach.

It transformed Great Britain from a land of rainy car parks and damp manors to a wonderland full of ghosts, haunted houses, pagan priests and talking dogs.

This one book re-enchanted my entire world and I’ve been trying to do the same ever since.

… left you cold?

To Kill A Mockingbird. It should only be available to adults who’ll fall for its self- congratulatory sentimentality.

Children are smart enough to see through its knuckle-headed characters, hypocrisy and cloying Southern charm. 

Witchcraft For Wayward Girls is available now from the Mail Bookshop