Tell me about your latest book and why we should read it?
We Own The Sky is about an ordinary family and how they deal with a tragedy. It asks the question no parent should ever have to ask: how far would you go to save your child? It’s a love story: between husband and wife and between parent and child. The message of the book is ultimately one of hope. It’s about the power of love and the things we cling to when we feel like we have nothing left.
If someone was to write your life story what would the title be?
“He Never Gave Up (But Maybe He Should Have!)”
What’s the strangest fan question or request you’ve received?
As a debut author, I haven’t received any strange ones yet. But I hope to receive many — both normal and strange — and will reply to all of them.
If you could co-write with anyone in the world (alive or dead) who would it be?
I think co-writing with anyone would be very tricky. But if I had to, it would be one of the greats, such as Judy Blume, Raymond Carver, or Kazuo Ishiguro. I would just watch and learn — and hopefully let them do all the work!
Tell me something nobody else knows about you (yet!).
My wife and I once rented our apartment out to a man who turned it into a brothel. (When we found out, we threw him out!)
Finally please recommend 3 books that you have recently read and tell me why you’ve chosen these.
“The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas. It’s unrelenting, topical without being didactic, and incredibly moving in an often understated way. Absolutely loved it.
“Dark Pines” by Will Dean. It’s a well-paced thriller with a fantastic heroine and it’s set in the deep forests of Sweden. It does a great job establishing complex and interesting characters early on, so you really care when the plot really starts getting going.
“Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine” by Gail Honeyman. I’m a bit late to the party but I loved the voice of the central character so much and I can’t remember a book I’ve read recently where I laughed out loud so much. Touching and moving and quite brilliant.
Who is Luke Allnutt?
I’m a writer and journalist based in Prague.
My debut novel, We Own The Sky, will be published by Orion (U.K.) and Harlequin/HarperCollins (U.S.) in 2018.
The publication rights have been sold in 30 countries around the world.
I’m also the author of Unspoken, a Kindle Single about the death of my father.
Originally from the U.K., I’ve lived and worked in Prague since 1998.
