This book was written in such a style of truthfulness, both through language and event, that its story grew and expanded in a way that made me feel thoroughly immersed and engrossed. I did not want to read on just due to the line of story, but also due to the pure emotion that was revealed through the ways in which people attempted to hide feeling, and the ways in which this was used as a technique of survival. The unbelievable and shocking imagery developed was beautiful, in an appalling sort of way. I felt the pain of physically ‘stamping’ or labelling someone in such a way that damages people for their whole lives, and realised an understanding of how people come back from this, through singing, smiling and a loving bond in this case, and how so much of life depends on what you do and where you go next.