Recently, we reviewed a wonderful new book, The Turning: What Curiosity Kills by Helen Ellis. Today, we’re excited to bring you an exclusive guest blog from Helen herself! Special thanks to Helen for sharing this with us, and to Paul at Sourcebooks for setting this up.
Thinking back on the loneliest times in my life, I think of the books that got me through.
When I was nineteen, I got on my first international flight and moved to England to go to college, but really it was to be with a boy. I checked into a B&B, waited for him to show up, and kept waiting well into my jet-lagged sleepless night. To ignore my heartache I read a paperback that I’d randomly picked up at Heathrow: The Life and Loves of a She Devil by Fay Weldon. It is still the best book I’ve ever read about unrequited love and revenge.
On my twenty-second birthday I moved to New York City to become a writer. I didn’t know exactly how I was going to accomplish this, nor did I know a soul. But I had a friend in New Jersey, and as I looked for a job and an apartment in “the city,” I rode the train back and forth between her house and 
Manhattan. On that ride, I read Outer Banks by Anne River Siddons. It’s a southern saga staple about lifelong girlfriends. It reminded me that no matter what life brings or doesn’t, I still have a few of such friends.
At thirty, my husband’s grandmother was dying and I sat terrified by her hospital bedside and read A Widow for One Year by John Irving. At thirty-five, my father had open-heart surgery, and I read The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet. At thirty-seven, when my third novel did not find a publisher and I was seriously considering giving up writing, I read New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. These books captured my attention for different reasons, but they each held my focus and let me temporarily forget the pain in my life.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I read during happy times too. But when I want to hide, I can always lose myself in a book. I hope that my new novel, THE TURNING: What Curiosity Kills offers the same escape.
For the comments: Tell us what books have been your security blankets in life.
Novel Novice 
When I was a senior in high school, I was dating a guy that I was positive I had fallen head over heels for. We had a ton in common, he was really sweet and he made me laugh. Then, out of the blue, he dumped me. I was devastated. I didn’t know why it had happened or what I had done wrong. Around that time, a friend of mine had given me the book The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks. It amazed me how much the main character and the ‘love of my life’ had in common. It made me realize why he did what he did and helped me to move on passed the heartbreak that I felt. That novel will always hold a very special place in my heart.