Kit Sam Writing Competition - S5 Merit 4

Book review – "Lily Alone"

by Tee Hau Wing (5C)

Lily lived with her mother and her three siblings. Her young mother was a self-centered mother. Lily and her siblings were left behind because her mother had gone to Spain with her new boyfriend. Lily is a very responsible person. Lily fed and amused her siblings. She tried to keep their plight a secret from teachers, neighbors and visitors of social service. Lily decided to take the children for camping in the park. However, as her brother had an accident, she had to call the hospital, which led to police intervention and revealing the hardship faced by the children.

I love this book for its truth revealing. However, I don’t like Lily’s mother. She gave birth to Lily when she was 15. Lily and her siblings have different fathers. This shows that her mother got married three times. Lily’s mother regards relationships as fun. She wants to stay with a person if she is fond of him, but leaves him if she does not like him anymore. She had divorces without knowing the fact that each divorce has caused trauma to her children. With the rapid development of society, more and more urbanites are pursuing short-term love. When they like each other, they quickly fall in love; and when they feel bad, they break up. They may hold a serious attitude, and believe that love will only last for a short time. But they rarely think about the impact of divorce on their children. Children who have been traumatized because their parents are divorced often feel fear, helplessness, loneliness and confusion. Their thoughts and personality will be affected to varying degrees, just like the protagonist in the story. She feels lonely every time when her mother leaves and is not at home.

This story is very brilliant and truth revealing. Nowadays, many young people’s ideas of love are not about having a deep, long-term, and committed relationship. The book addresses such a problem. This thought-provoking story will make us reflect on ourselves, especially those who are not caring about their next generations. I highly recommend it to everyone. This book is suitable for all ages to read.