Book Review.
Somebody Somewhere by Donna Williams is an autobiographical sequel to her first autobiographical book Nobody Nowhere. Donna an autistic child who had difficulty growing up had described her childhood and growing up years in the first book.
In Somebody Somewhere she continues her journey after she establishes herself as an author and returns to her home country Australia to live independently. Her struggle with life continues due to autism, she describes her determination and helping others like her in this book. Her relationship with her sympathetic landlord's family and her psychologist, her reaching out to people to speak about her book for promotion and her interaction with a publishing agent towards her second book.
It's amazing how she comes as not only a winner after autism captures her at every stage of life but she also helps a few others who she finds similarly affected with ASD and makes them stronger.
At one stage during her day long stopover in Srilanka on the way from Australia to the UK she had to struggle to shut up the cab driver who behaved in a typical manner as we all experience leachers who try to attract "foreign tourists".. Their conversation goes like:
"you married? Do you have a boyfriend? Do you like Srilanka? Do you like Srilanka men? Have you ever had a boyfriend? Are you afraid of AIDS? Would you like to get married? Would you like to get married to me? The taxi driver went on and on as I answered each question honestly. It wasn't until he got to the last question and he explained his intentions that I understood what was happening. I thought it was a sort of factual quiz, a culture study on his behalf, or that maybe he was into sociology or something."
Now such conversation would make any neurotypical woman nervous, sweating and fearful but Donna braves the situation and firmly asks the driver to return to the hotel.
It's a story worth reading and appreciating her bravery.
May' 2025
#donnawilliams #SomebodySomewhere #autism #ASD
In Somebody Somewhere she continues her journey after she establishes herself as an author and returns to her home country Australia to live independently. Her struggle with life continues due to autism, she describes her determination and helping others like her in this book. Her relationship with her sympathetic landlord's family and her psychologist, her reaching out to people to speak about her book for promotion and her interaction with a publishing agent towards her second book.
It's amazing how she comes as not only a winner after autism captures her at every stage of life but she also helps a few others who she finds similarly affected with ASD and makes them stronger.
At one stage during her day long stopover in Srilanka on the way from Australia to the UK she had to struggle to shut up the cab driver who behaved in a typical manner as we all experience leachers who try to attract "foreign tourists".. Their conversation goes like:
"you married? Do you have a boyfriend? Do you like Srilanka? Do you like Srilanka men? Have you ever had a boyfriend? Are you afraid of AIDS? Would you like to get married? Would you like to get married to me? The taxi driver went on and on as I answered each question honestly. It wasn't until he got to the last question and he explained his intentions that I understood what was happening. I thought it was a sort of factual quiz, a culture study on his behalf, or that maybe he was into sociology or something."
Now such conversation would make any neurotypical woman nervous, sweating and fearful but Donna braves the situation and firmly asks the driver to return to the hotel.
It's a story worth reading and appreciating her bravery.
May' 2025
#donnawilliams #SomebodySomewhere #autism #ASD
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