Writers Read: Allie Reynolds

Monday, July 18, 2022

Allie Reynolds

British-born Allie Reynolds is a former freestyle snowboarder who swapped her snowboard for a surfboard and moved to the Gold Coast in

Australia, where she taught English as a foreign language for fifteen years. She still lives in Australia with her family. Reynolds’s short fiction has been published in women’s magazines in the UK, Australia, Sweden, and South Africa. Shiver is her debut novel.

The Swell is Reynolds's new novel.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Her reply:

I'm a massive reader. I'm not sure why, but what I most crave from fiction at the moment, is emotion. My favourite book last year was Beartown by Fredrik Backman. I was drawn to the book by the sports theme - the story centres around a small town in Sweden where everyone is obsessed with ice hockey - but I loved it for the emotions the author creates in the reader. One minute I was crying, the next minute I was bursting with pride for one of the characters. It takes such skill to create emotions so effortlessly. The prose is simple yet so powerful. The book is a translation from Swedish and I think the translator did an amazing job.

As I thriller writer, I read lots of thrillers. Some can feel a little cold and emotionless. I love when thriller authors capture emotion. I've just finished Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister, which is like no thriller I've ever read! It has a supernatural twist: a mother must go back in time to try to prevent her beloved teenage son from committing murder. The story starts with the murder and future chapters jump back in time to before it. There was so much emotion, warmth and humour in this story, which we rarely find in thrillers. There were some really touching scenes where the mother goes back in time to see her son at a younger age, which brought tears to my eyes and made me reflect on my own sons and the relationship I have with them. I love it when fiction makes me reflect on my life like that.

Where the Crawdads Sing was another book I loved recently. There is so much emotion in this story. I found it thought-provoking, heart-breaking and just beautiful. It made me cry a few times. I'm looking forward to watching the movie, and seeing if it makes me cry too!