Opinion

In my library: Delia Ephron

When you grow up, as Delia Ephron did, in a family of writers — screenwriter parents, incipient novelist/screenwriter siblings — it’s only natural, later on, to draw from the same well.

“All four of us sisters are writers and chewing over the bones of the family,” concedes Delia, younger sister of Nora Ephron, whose last book touched on their late mother’s alcoholism. “But we all work pretty hard to get along. I was blessed with parents who believed in writing as a valid way to make a living.”

And so they have, especially Nora and Delia, who co-wrote “You’ve Got Mail” and, more recently, “Love, Loss, and What I Wore,” now in its second year off-Broadway and newly opened in Australia (soon to come: France, Mexico and Germany). “Successes are always freakish,” she says. “We thought, maybe we’d get three months!”

Here’s what’s in her library.

— Barbara Hoffman

Higglety Pigglety Pop!

by Maurice Sendak

I don’t know what age this is for, but it poses the question: There must be more to life than having everything. That’s the dilemma of a dog named Jennie, who leaves home for adventure and fame and manages to get both. I keep it on my desk for inspiration, because it’s so offbeat. I also have a dog that looks like that.

The Great Silence

by Juliet Nicolson

I read it this summer and thought it was an incredible social history. It’s about England between world wars, a study of a country in grief. There wasn’t a person who didn’t have a father, brother, fiance, lover or child who wasn’t killed in WWI. It’s also about the survivors, and how that affected the class system of footmen and parlor maids. She’s a fabulous writer.

Olive Kitteridge

by Elizabeth Strout

One of the greatest books ever! It’s a collection of short stories that are connected, and Olive is in every story. She’s a very difficult heroine — irritating, slightly out-of-control and domineering, yet irresistible. I was stuck on the subway reading one story, and I started crying.

Anne of Green Gables

by L.M. Montgomery

I’m a writer of children’s and young-adult books, and “Anne of Green Gables” is one of those books that I reread. Anne is completely outspoken and constantly getting into trouble, a girl who can’t be polite — and she’s in love with Gilbert, whom she can’t get along with. As a girl who was opinionated and tomboyish, I think it’s a great novel!