The Solitary - Lynn Hall

I haven't read this book in about twenty years. I'm going to rectify that ASAP though.

Sometime when I was about twelve or thirteen, one of my regular hospital outpatients appointments (to monitor severe scoliosis, which I've had since I was a baby) happened to fall in the week before Christmas. After I'd been in to see my consultant, a nurse presented me with a paperback book; they had bought books as small gifts for each child that was in the clinic that day, and as we were all different ages each one had been chosen specially for us.

The book that I was given was Lynn Hall's The Solitary, which I believe is now out of print in this country at least. It is available secondhand from Amazon. I can recommend that you buy it.

The Solitary tell the story of Jane, an American high-school graduate who returns to her parents farm to try to make a living for herself. When she was a child her mother had murdered her father, so Jane went to live with her cruel aunt and uncle; for the past two years, whilst her schoolfriends party and prepare for college she has carefully planned how she could manage on her own. She decides to farm rabbits for a living, and as she faces up to each problem that arises she grows in self-belief. She's completely on her own at first, and she's frightened, and there's no-one who shares her experience, but she doesn't give in.

Another reviewer elsewhere on the web states "The most important aspect of Jane as a role model is that she accomplishes her goal of living according to her own design. In the last few chapters there is evidence of happiness, satisfaction, and dignity. The details used to describe Jane's physical and mental metamorphosis makes it possible for readers to see how they might follow her path."

Giving this inspirational book to a young teenager who has had to grow up following an unusual and often lonely path was a fucking masterstroke. Bravo, anonymous RNOH Outpatients nurse.