Good stories give us a welcome break from world troubles

Sometimes we all get tired of hearing the news from the real world - trade wars, political machinations and slowing economies. So, it is great to get immersed in a good long story.

Great stories are not escapism - not a rejection of the world. Actually, they give us a much deeper understanding of humanity than we can get from just looking at daily events. I find that stories written for children or teenagers are often the best.

So, in the past month or so I have turned to three authors who I can highly recommend.