A highly enjoyable, beautifully written & illustrated book!
by Dave Miller
I first downloaded a sample of Sophie Neville's
Funnily Enough book for my ereader a few months back and immediately loved it. I searched all my local bookstores to no avail but finally ordered it from Amazon. I devoured the book in a few days!
It's chock full of beautiful little illustrations throughout (done by Sophie herself...you've got to love that kind of personal touch!) told in a day by day journal over a year. Most journals can at times be boring and mundane in thier details but Sophie has chronicled her illness superbly. Not an easy thing to do when one's sick. It's interspersed with a great cast of characters (human as well as animals) that will make you laugh and cry and want to know more about them.
Having a few relatives that have/had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome I found the book to be an insightful read. I know back when they were diagnosed in the early 90's there wasn't much known about it at all. And they suffered the "it's all in your head" stigma. I'll encourage them to read this book!
From donkeys to otters and even a trip to the Lake District (which I've never been to but hope to one day) where she all to briefly mentions
Swallows & Amazons (the movie in which she played my favourite character Titty). I'd like to think that the character Titty as she grew up would have led a very similar life as the actress/author who portrayed her. World traveler. Artist. Author. I wonder if Sophie maybe was inspired by the character too?
As I got near the end of the book I was a little saddened it was over so quickly (always the sign of a very good book though!). I'm delighted that there's a sequel of sorts (
Ride the Wings of Morning) which I'm about to order soon. And if it's half as good as I found Funnily Enough I know I'm in for another fantastic read!
