Wow. Um, that's a toughie! There are so many people to choose from! Probably my maternal grandmother. I'd love to know about my biological family, even though I adore my adoptive family! (My mom was adopted at birth)
Wow, that's hard. For contemporary romance (my guilty pleasure) it's Nora Roberts. I'd have to think hard about "real" literature, though - there's so many! I love to read.