About the Book
A piercing, magical story about?a life-altering friendship
Toward the end of his life, H looks back on the relationship that has shaped and obsessed him for nearly a century. It began many years earlier at St. Oswald?s, a dismal boarding school on the coast of England, where the young H came face- to-face with an almost unbearably beautiful boy living by himself at the edge of the sea.
At first, the mysterious Finn appears to have no past?his home is an ancient fisherman's hut with a woodstove, a case of books, striped blankets, and a cat.
H insinuates his way into Finn's life, stalking him with perfect patience until an unlikely friendship is kindled; a confused idyll of ?devotion and longing set against a background of blazing wood fires and fishing expeditions.
Their friendship deepens, offering H both the freedom and the human connection that has always eluded him. But in a world of conformity, can one eccentric idyll be ?allowed to survive?
About the Author :
Meg Rosoff was born in Boston, USA. She has worked in publishing, public relations and most recently advertising, but thinks the best job in the world would be head gardener for Regents Park. Meg lives in Highbury, North London. She is the author of "Just in Case, What I Was" and "How I Live Now."
Review :
?Rosoff writes with startling acuity about a young person's search for self and for meaningful connection? this anguished story is sure to attract a crossover audience of older teens, as well as adults, who will appreciate Rosoff's questions about the nature of time, memory, and the events that become, over a life's arc, the defining moments.?
?"Booklist," Starred Review
?An extraordinary account of an obsessive friendship between a prep-school misfit and a beautiful orphan.?
?"Kirkus," Starred Review
?This is a richly patterned work about secrets, what the tide hides and reveals and how an innocent crush can utterly change everything.?
?"People," 4 Stars
?There is magic, power and mystery in the novel, without anyone ever waving a wand.?
?"San Francisco Chronicle"
?This whole novel is built on a surprise (which caught me totally unaware), but beyond the surprise lies the beauty of what it means to live without junk in your life, only
aRosoff writes with startling acuity about a young personas search for self and for meaningful connectiona] this anguished story is sure to attract a crossover audience of older teens, as well as adults, who will appreciate Rosoffas questions about the nature of time, memory, and the events that become, over a lifeas arc, the defining moments.a
a"Booklist," Starred Review
aAn extraordinary account of an obsessive friendship between a prep-school misfit and a beautiful orphan.a
a"Kirkus," Starred Review
aThis is a richly patterned work about secrets, what the tide hides and reveals and how an innocent crush can utterly change everything.a
a"People," 4 Stars
aThere is magic, power and mystery in the novel, without anyone ever waving a wand.a
a"San Francisco Chronicle"
aThis whole novel is built on a surprise (which caught me totally unaware), but beyond the surprise lies the beauty of what it means to live without junk in your life, only essential beauty, together with the reminder that all of itathe junk and the beautyawill be gone in a twinkling. This is a lovely book.a
a"Washington Post"
a"What I Was" shows us a more confident author whose poetry lies in her elegant, straightforward descriptions of human activityacooking crabs, climbing a chalk cliff, learning to sailainstead of lurid embellishment. The result is a beautifully crafted tale that seems, like its protagonist, both enduringly old and fluently new.a
a"Los Angeles Times"
a(Rosoffas) portrayal of adolescent awakening is intimate and thoroughly persuasive.a
a"Boston Globe"
"Rosoff writes with startling acuity about a young person's search for self and for meaningful connection... this anguished story is sure to attract a crossover audience of older teens, as well as adults, who will appreciate Rosoff's questions about the nature of time, memory, and the events that become, over a life's arc, the defining moments."
-"Booklist," Starred Review
"An extraordinary account of an obsessive friendship between a prep-school misfit and a beautiful orphan."
-"Kirkus," Starred Review
"This is a richly patterned work about secrets, what the tide hides and reveals and how an innocent crush can utterly change everything."
-"People," 4 Stars
"There is magic, power and mystery in the novel, without anyone ever waving a wand."
-"San Francisco Chronicle"
"This whole novel is built on a surprise (which caught me totally unaware), but beyond the surprise lies the beauty of what it means to live without junk in your life, only essential beauty, together with the reminder that all of it-the junk and the beauty-will be gone in a twinkling. This is a lovely book."
-"Washington Post"
""What I Was" shows us a more confident author whose poetry lies in her elegant, straightforward descriptions of human activity-cooking crabs, climbing a chalk cliff, learning to sail-instead of lurid embellishment. The result is a beautifully crafted tale that seems, like its protagonist, both enduringly old and fluently new."
-"Los Angeles Times"
"(Rosoff's) portrayal of adolescent awakening is intimate and thoroughly persuasive."
-"Boston Globe"
