The World I Live In

Helen Keller, born in 1880, was a healthy, bright-eyed baby girl until a mystery virus struck her at the age of only 19 months and rendered her deaf and blind for life. Her parents were priviledged enough to be able to hire a teacher, Annie Sullivan, to accompany her from the age of seven on an arduous journey to learn to communicate. Keller wrote and published a book about her struggle, 'The Story of My Life' at the age of twenty-three: it became a bestseller and is still a cult classic today. Her follow-up was 'The World I Live In', published in 1908 and out of print ever since. This new edition reminds us of the genius of Keller's writing as she explains, in a series of remarkable essays, how she came to rely on other senses to guide her through life: describing her heightened sense of smell, she writes that 'as the season advances, a crisp, dry, mature odor predominates, and gold-rod, tansy and everlastings mark the onward march of the year'. In yet another essay, Keller forces us to think about the power of touch, which is the most important sense to her: the significance of the human hand as it blesses, heals, forgives and befriends. The language in this book is typically Edwardian and hence comes across as slightly dated - but the sobriety and intelligence of Keller's unselfish self-analysis makes this a profound and thought-provoking read. (Kirkus UK)