LIFE LESSONS FROM BOOKS

The novels that shaped my outlook

THE GREAT GATSBY

by F Scott Fitzgerald

I was 17 when I read this book, and reeling from the end of my first relationship. It taught me as much about class as it did about love.

TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES

by Thomas Hardy

Like most teenage girls, I was desperate to be considered beautiful. And then I read this and realised the heavy burden arresting beauty can bring.

THE OUTSIDERS

by SE Hinton

It takes a teenager to understand a teenager. SE Hinton was 17 when she wrote this book about the end of adolescence. I thought I knew it all, until I read this.

FOREVER

by Judy Blume

Did boys really call their penises Ralph? Could you really break your hymen with a tampon? This book answered all of life’s most pressing questions.