Reproduction of the original: Her Benny by Silas K. Hocking

This book is a little gem. It was first published in 1880 by a Cornish Minister who upped sticks to bang his drum up in the 'grim North', ( including 3 years in Liverpool, which is where this story is primarily set ). Despite the good man of the cloth earning only a fraction of what he should have done, this book gave Silas K Hocking his place in History, as the first author to sell more than a million books in his own life time. Considering the traditional rush from the cemetery to buy all sorts of works of art, music and literature by even the most obscure writers/artists in the event of their passing on, this was indeed an achievement. One read of the first chapter will make you understand why.

Reproduction of the original: Her Benny by Silas K. Hocking

Lenny lives on the edge of the forest. He spends his days tending his roses, drinking cocoa and practicing for jumping competitions. He can jump further than anyone in the forest; not even the flea, frog or squirrel can beat him. Until Benny turns up. Lenny and Benny have the best time in the world together but when Lenny realizes that Benny can jump further than he can, he accuses him of cheating and lying and refuses to see him ever again. Time passes and Benny decides to have a party. He invites everybody except Lenny, but the postman accidentally delivers an invitation anyway. Lenny, ready to be friends again, is delighted. However, when he turns up, Benny is enraged, calls him a liar and says he never wants to see him again. But Lenny and Benny did once have the best time in the world together. Is any argument worth losing such a great friendship over? Inspired by the midrash about Kamtza and Bar-Kamtza, in which an inter-communal squabble ultimately leads to the destruction of the Second Temple, this is a story about the importance and joy of friendship, the futility of conflict and how destructive an unresolved argument can be.

Who is Benny Wellander? His classmates see him as the weird epileptic kid who has seizures and throws up all the time, the one who fails at everything he tries and doesn’t have any friends. His mother sees him as her baby and wants to protect and coddle him at any cost. Meanwhile, his father tries not to see him at all, preferring to hold himself aloof from a boy who is the total antithesis of everything he ever wanted in a son. Surrounded by so much confusion, how does Benny see himself? Is he defined by his illness and the resulting damage to his brain? Is he just rubbish at everything he does? Is he even worth loving? What will it take for him to come out of his prison of fear and insecurity and begin exploring who he was truly made to be?