Dear Nobody

Este es, tal vez, uno de los libros que más tiempo ha pasado de que lo leí en la biblioteca. Apareció ante mi hace aproximadamente 13 años y hay sólo un detalle que hace que lo recuerde.

A modo de novela epistolar nos cuenta como Helen, la protagonista, le va contando a su feto las desventuras que su embarazo le ha traído. Parte te deja con la sensación de que esta compartiendo su vida, otra te deja con la visión de que culpa a "Querido nadie" por todo lo que acontece en su vida. La historia se lee fácil, usa un lenguaje apropiado para quien sea que lo lea y logras asimilar lo que pasa. Chris, el padre, es de esos personajes que pareciera están como mero adorno. Su participación activa se limita al coito y a ser invisible el show more resto del tiempo.

¿Memorable? Para nada, sólo el título, que es la razón por la cual lo recuerdo. show less

Chris and Helen are ordinary English teenagers, in love, in their last year of high school. Suddenly Helen begins to suspect that she’s pregnant, and everything changes for both of them. Neither knows how to deal with this. Chris wants to act as though nothing’s changed, but Helen can’t help being focussed on the life forming within her. As she drifts away from Chris, Helen writes letters to their unborn baby, her Nobody, to try and sort out her feelings.

This book is all about relationships. It provides much to think about in terms of what can end a relationship, and whether the reasons for doing so are valid. The story also provides room to explore how different relationships effect each other, by showing how one person can show more become so absorbed with one other so as to exclude other relationships. For Chris, Helen is this person, but for Helen, she can only think about baby Nobody.

The novel explores how Chris and Helen relate to each other, and to their unborn child; but it also looks at the other relationships within families. For example, Chris is in the process of renewing contact with is mother, who walked out on the family when he was ten. And there are issues within Helen’s family, who feel that she has let them down, now that she can no longer go to Music School as planned.

The story is told from assorted perspectives. Helen writes her letters to Nobody. Chris writes letters to Helen, to his mother, and ultimately to his newborn child. Chris’s mother writes a special letter to Helen. In between, Chris narrates the other happenings over these nine months of their lives, but often he’s recording what an older person (his father, his aunt) has just told him about their own past, so the book seems to cover a longer time span than it actually does.

In the course of the story, there are many, many decisions to be made. Both teenagers have been trying to decide what to do when they finish school, now they must decide what to do about their baby instead. Is abortion an acceptable option? Helen will need to find somewhere to live when the baby is born, and isn’t sure if she wants to continue her relationship with Chris. Helen’s mother believes the only proper thing is for the two to get married, and bring the baby up within a secure family environment.

The constant pressure on the characters to make the right decision lends the story in places a somewhat desperate feel. However the reader cannot help but become emotionally involved with the characters, and is as anxious as they are to see whether the decisions will turn out appropriately. In other places, the story is tender, even romantic, as it examines the delicacy and pain of relationships, and the emotional consequences of physical involvement.

I would strongly recommend this story to serious readers, especially females, aged 12 or older. show less

a very good book but it made me so sad. It's such a tough topic to write about, but I think the author did a good job. I would like to hope that I would handle this situation better than these parents.....but you just never know (as an adult, as a child) how you would handle this.

Beautifully written with several nuanced points of view. I can definitely see the appeal both to some youth for whom it's relevant, and some people who just like to read stories about people coming of age and facing challenges. It deserves the award it won (and for which I read it). I, personally, wasn't quite moved enough to round up to four stars. Sorry I can't be more clear or helpful.

tonårig mammas dagbok till sitt ofödda barn, relationen till barnets far... Passar både tjejer och killar på gymnasiet, de kan känna igen sig. Lätt att läsa på engelska, passar A-kurs på gymn.

Link to a review on my personal website (might be in Swedish).

Querido Nadie, el futuro hijo de la joven Helen, se transforma paulatinamente en el invisible culpable de sus contradicciones y en el único destinatario de un manojo de cartas que, a modo de pesadilla, retratan paso a paso la pérdida de sus ilusiones.