Day 06 – A book that makes you sad

A book that makes me sad? That’s hard. I tend to not read books that make me sad for the simple reason that I have have suffered from depression in the past and I tend to dwell on sad things. I have never been good with sad books or sad tv shows/movies. As a small child there was a children’s show about a dog who got separated from its family. I think it was supposed to be an adventure show but I focused on the fact that he wasn’t with his family. It got so bad that my parents couldn’t let me hear the theme tune because I would start crying and wail “why doesn’t he find his family! Why can’t he be with his mummy!?” I still feel this way as an adult. That said, I do read books that have sad parts. Books were I sob my guts out: take when Matthew dies in Anne of Green Gables is one such incident. There is also Beth’s death in Little Women and the Masterharper’s death in the Pern books by Anne McCaffrey. But the book I want to talk about today is Good Night, Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian.

The reason I have chosen this book is because although it has a hopeful message and a happy ending most of the book is sad and somewhat depressing. The book tells the story of William Beech a small abused boy who is evacuated from London during the Second World War. William’s mother abuses him both physically and mentally and just when things look like they will get better for William through the kind treatment of the title character Mr. Tom that is snatched away from him.

I don’t want to give away to much of the plot but there is an event in the book that has me sobbing like I do in the previous mentioned books. Always have and probably always will.

Despite the fact that this book makes me sad I would highly recommend it. It is marketed as Young Adult, as is all of Magorian’s books but I would definitely recommend it as an adult book. As I would her other books, I’ve read Back Home and A Little Love Song by her as well. Good Night, Mr Tom has also been made into a movie, I haven’t seen that however.

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