Authors Annabel Smith and Emma Chapman are starting a new series on their blog called Six Degrees of Separation, based on Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy’s 1929 short story ‘Chains’ in which he coined the phrase ‘six degrees of separation’. Each month, they’ll choose a book to start with and invite other writers and bloggers to join in by linking that book to five other books. I’m taking part this month, when they start with Hannah Kent’s hugely successful novel, Burial Rites.

I read Burial Rites soon after its release. I admit I bought it mainly because of the hype, as it’s not necessarily a book I would have picked up as I don’t read a lot of historical fiction. However, it’s a fantastic story, and the Scandinavain setting was completely convincing, which leads me to the next book…

I read Pers Petterson’s Out Stealing Horses on the recommendation of Favel Parrett (author of the Past The Shallows) and loved it. This book was originally written in Norweigan, and I (of course) read the English translation. While the setting was foreign to me, it was so convicing. Having grown up in Scotland, I could identify with the chill of Northern Europe. Which leads me on to…

David Vann’s Caribou Island is one my favourite books. I read this a few years ago and just loved it. Again, the setting is amazing, though rather than Northern Europe, this book is set in Alaska. Vann uses the setting as a character – the hostile island and the inclement weather are as much the antagonists in this novel as the human characters. He used the setting perfectly to force the main characters into isolation where they have to confront their relationship. It was one of the inspirations for my partially setting my next novel, Let Her Go, on Western Australia’s Rottnest Island. I met David Vann last month at the Perth Writers Festival and was a little star struck as he’s one of my favourite authors, and it was there that I bought the next book in my chain…

I have just finished reading my signed copy of Dirt. I must admit that when I started reading it, I didn’t engage with it very easily. The main character is into new age philosophy and it’s not something that’s ever interested me, and there’s not much to like about any of the characters! But, being such a fan of Vann’s writing, I kept going, and in the end, wasn’t disappointed. The second half of the book is completely compelling, horrific and chilling, and like Caribou Island (and Goat Mountain), kept me awake at night. Which leads me onto…

I had never read Turner Hospital until I heard her speak at the University of Queensland a few years ago, where she did a reading from Oyster. For some reason, I thought she wrote epic romances! How wrong I was. I loved this book. Oyster concerns a new age religion, but takes it a step further than Vann to write about a sinister cult leader. She writes beautifully about the Australian bush, but like Vann, uses this setting as an antagonistic force. Which leads me to…

Another of my favourite books: Tim Winton’s Dirt Music. It’s set on the West Australian coast, and like Turner Hospital, Winton writes so vividly about the scenery that it’s a huge part of the story. Dirt Music has a great plot, suspense and deeply flawed characters which kept me engagaed until the end. Just like the book at the beginning of this chain, Burial Rites.

As I put up the pictures of the covers of these books, I’ve realised how similar they all are: earthy colours, trees, sand, dirt, water. It’s interesting that books I connected by the sense I got from reading them are clearly marketed in similar ways by their jacket design.

Have you read any of these books? What would your chain look like?