Dreda Say Mitchell

My name is Dreda Say Mitchell and I am an award-winning and best-selling crime fiction author.

Tell us about a time that reading had a positive impact on you.

I read The Colour Purple by Alice Walker in my twenties and it had a profound effect on my development as a young black woman. It made me cry, laugh, rail and understand that we should all reach for our dreams. And keep reaching.

What do you love about reading?

The escapism but also the reality of connecting to a main character because the issues they face may be issues I have faced too. Books help me work out what my place in the world is. I love the joy and beauty of reading words on a page.

Can you recommend a read to our Reading Ahead participants?

Stevie Wonder’s lyrics to ‘Living for the City.’ Beautiful and truly profound.

Read a book by Dreda:

Spare Room is a psychological thriller about Lisa, a young woman who rents a room in a house where the couple who own the house also live. When she finds a suicide note in her room the couple deny ever having had another tenant. Lisa’s about to find out that home is where the nightmare is.