ANNE OF GREEN GABLES
L.M. Montgomery

I was 11 when my mother gave me her 1930s copy of Anne of Green Gables with photographs from the 1934 film. I adored it, roaring with laughter at Anne's escapades, and weeping. My widowed mother had little spare money, but got me secondhand copies of nearly all the Montgomery books that weren't in the school library. On my 12th birthday she gave me Anne's House of Dreams – the first new book I'd ever owned.

LORD OF THE RINGS
J.R.R. Tolkien

When I was 13 my older brother said to me, rather off-handedly, "You'd love this book". As he was the coolest person in the universe, I took his advice and tumbled headlong into Middle Earth. I found a perfectly imagined fantastical world of beauty and terror, where little hobbits (I am not a tall woman) could save the world through courage, common sense and friendship.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Harper Lee

At 17, university loomed but I was unsure of what I wanted to do with my life. My father had died when I was four years old, and it's not surprising that when I read To Kill a Mockingbird I fell in love with Atticus Finch. The book opened my eyes to the horror of racism, and Atticus' single-minded determination to fight for justice played a role in my decision to study law.

THE HARP IN THE SOUTH/POOR MAN'S ORANGE
Ruth Park

These books vividly portray a Catholic working-class Irish-Australian family living in poverty in the Surry Hills slums in Sydney. Park imbues the books with memorable characters and a vivid sense of place. She never romanticises the brutality of everyday life, but what shines through is the innate goodness and humour of the family and their tight-knit community. I'd mainly read books set in Britain, the US, or Europe. Park made me want to write about Australia.