Writers' Houses: Where Great Books Began, by Nick Channer, £22

THE very rooms that inspired authors and poets such as Beatrix Potter, William Wordsworth, Agatha Christie, Jane Austen and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are celebrated in this highly enjoyable new book.

Illustrated in colour and with a foreword by Downton Abbey writer Julian Fellowes, it's a lovely read and perfect for dipping into, with intriguing snippets and anecdotes on every page.

Author Nick Channer describes the "topsy-turvy quirkiness" that endeared Beatrix Potter to her Lake District property Hill Top, with its herb-lined paths, rambling pink roses and hidden beehives.

Channer also tells an amusing story about Sir Walter Scott who, as a guest at Wordsworth's Dove Cottage, Grasmere, grew "so tired of the bowlfuls of porridge he was fed that he hauled himself out of his bedroom window to seek an alternative, more appealing diet at the village inn".

RACHEL KITCHEN