In Nick Hornby’s completely joyous and original new book two great figures share the stage. Charles Dickens and Prince. Two wildly different artists who caught fire and lit up the world in ways no others could.
‘Happiness, you gorgeous. warm ray of sunshine. I love it when you spring up out of nowhere and take me by surprise and how you can make clouds part and corners of mouths lift..’
I Was Here is Gayle Forman at her finest, a taut, emotional, and ultimately redemptive story about redefining the meaning of family and finding a way to move forward even in the face of unspeakable loss.
Tyrannical Nurse Ratched rules her ward in an Oregon State mental hospital with a strict and unbending routine, unopposed by her patients, who remain cowed by mind-numbing medication and the threat of electric shock therapy.
“When you’re dumb enough for long enough, you’re gonna meet someone too smart to love you, and they’re gonna love you anyway, and it’s gonna go so poorly.”
These are Demi’s words. Words she lives by and shares with the people she loves and total strangers alike. They are a powerful testament to a young woman standing up and fighting back.
‘This book shows there’s insecurity in all of us and that it doesn’t diminish our power. That, in fact, accepting it is transformative.’ – Gina Martin, author of Be the Change