BOOK REVIEW: Wye Oh Wye – Diary for Dédé by Annie Razid
Being a true blue Malaysian at
heart, I always put my Malaysian authors at the forefront as my first choice of
reading material to go to. Once a fresh faced author pops onto the scene, I’m
the first to lay my hands on the tomes that they lovingly and painstakingly
share with the readers. Luck was on my side one sunny Saturday morning. As I
was talking to my TESOL lecturer, Mr. Lim, a gracious gentleman in his 70’s who
shares the same passion for books as me, he handed me a hardcover book that
very much resembled an olden days diary.
Mr. Lim was gushing on about his
happiness in meeting an old acquaintance who happened to be a writer too. As
they were deep in conversation, the wonder woman, Ms. Annie Razid, handed him a
book. It is the first book she is writing and soon to be launched nationwide.
And by now all of you would have guessed the book I’m referring to was the one
that Mr. Lim parted with to let me have the privilege of setting my eyes on
first. The book cover actually gives the first insight into what the book
holds. The intricate artwork of trees carrying autumn leaves on its branches
and a lone girl standing between the path laden with these trees was heart
warming yet gave a sense of sadness and hardship. A cute photo of a chubby kid
with face paint and his two friends and a photo of a suave gentleman with
presumably his gorgeous daughter and a handsome son suggest a storyline of a
family from the time it bloomed till later years. However, the story may not be
so simple and everything doesn’t end in a fairytale. Readers, have a box of
tissues nearby as this story will make you cry and also laugh as Annie Razid
shares her life with you.
The story tells the tale of Annie
Razid going through her 3 phases of post-divorce. The journey of how she went
to England, where her fairytale began, when she was a young wife and everything
was perfect. Still lost and in denial, Annie went back to Wye in order to
relive her happy memories, looking for the love she always wanted and wishing
she could turn back time. As time passed by however Annie kept on returning to
Wye but no longer in denial, Annie started her own journey of self discovery
through the new people she met, and the old friendships she reconciled. After
going through too many phases of constant let downs, Annie finally realized her
purpose of life, this story tells Annie’s journey from how she started getting
attracted to Wye to how she learned to let go.
Heart-wrenchingly poignant yet
motivating, this book has moved me to the point of no return. Written in
exactly the same way as how she wrote her diary of her life, Annie Razid has
evoked a strong message that all of us out here can take a page from. Love
doesn’t necessarily have to be a bed of roses, it can also become a path of
thorns that penetrates deep into the heart only to leave permanent scars.
However hard it may seem to rebound from that form of pain, there comes a time
when you have to move on not only for yourself but for those you love. God
gives us rightfully what’s ours and when the time comes He shares it with
someone else who needs it more than we do.
A few lines that tugged at my heartstrings and made me fond of the
author (a super-mom and an iron lady for all the right reasons): “Don’t give up
on love...don’t even struggle to find love. Because darling, you are LOVE! You
are ‘Being Love’. You are ‘Being’ and you are ‘Love’!”
I cross my fingers that this
book’s launching is a successful one as I want every soul out there to read this
story to understand the true and sincere meaning of love and how life is one,
huge fairytale that can take unexpected lurches when you least expected.
Beautifully woven and with each line holding soupcons of feelings, I highly
recommend this as a book to be read, cherished and passed down through
generations as the messages will never fade from your heart...
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