Occasionally, a book arrives in our lives and has an extraordinary impact. For me one book was ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ which I stumbled upon as a twelve year old. It was a great story – an exciting drama; a young girl, locked in an attic for an extended period, the intrigue of her situation – remaining hidden through war time, a romance which was fascinating to my twelve year old self. And then came ‘The End’ – and ‘The Afterword’. The news that Anne and her family had been captured and moved to a concentration camp in 1945. That she and her sister had died, probably from typhus, only months later. The realisation that this was a true story!
I cannot describe the magnitude of the shock I experienced when reading about the outcome of Anne’s life. Had it not been revealed, I would have set the book aside with all of the other ‘happy ever after’ books that I had read as a child. The evils of war may not have struck so deeply. However, this clearly was no ‘happy ever after’ ending and, for me, The Diary of Anna Frank was my introduction to understanding the terrible consequences of racist extremism, and was integral to shaping my own lifelong stance against racist ideology.
Which book had a profound effect on your life?
Love Story. Although I was very, very young (about 6 or 7)) when the book and movie came out, I never realized that love didn’t always have a great happy ending in real life. The movie, then I fell in love with the book, showed me that men and women both went to college and love did not save all. I used to read the book until I had memorized chapter after chapter. Yes, I was a very advanced reader and just fell in love with everything about it it but it also broke my heart. Silly but it just had such a profound effect on me. I wanted to grow up, live in Boston, be an attorney, etc. None of which I did but those were my goals until at least 16.
I was shaped by the book
“To Kill a Mockingbird” It left an
Impression on me that stayed
with me forever and it’s the same
philosophy I raised my children on
My husband was Hispanic so as far
as my whole family and friends were
concerned their is no prejudice in our
household because of “Boo Radley and the
Black man that Atticus defended in court
I based my whole life on this philosophy
I’m proud say that it is still with my
family even today
Hi, I read a book quite some years ago called Leviathan, it is a story about whaling but is told from the side of a whale, it was an excellent story, it made me cry and I have read it numerous times since then. It is a book I will not lend out, I don’t want to lose it