The final book in the ‘Big Read’ series that has been ongoing on the blog, I’ve left the most beautiful story for last. The Penguin Lessons by Tom Michell.
The novel is a true story of how a young man in his twenties (who grew up in the Surrey area) decided to take a teaching post in Southern America.
He’s at the prime of his life, with no distractions in his way he sets off to discover his love of teaching, where instead he finds the instant attachment to a penguin named Juan Salvador, who he finds injured and decides to smuggle him into the dorms of the boarding school where he works.
The story between the two is enchanting, and you will find yourself reading the book (more than likely in one sitting…) with a huge smile on your face.
There was part of the book that has stayed with me. In chapter 18 he refers to Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘The Power of the Dog’. You can instantly relate to that poem if you’ve ever had to leave something behind while you go a head and live your life, or if you have ever lost a pet.
This is a gentle story told with feeling by the author, who clearly never forgot what the penguin meant to him and how his life was changed forever.
You can grab a copy here, let me know what you thought of it in the comments below,
Lucy xox
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Elle Hache 