I enjoyed reading the article in The Sunday Times of Malta (April 24) about students meeting British WWII veterans. The students were given the opportunity to learn more about an important part of Malta’s recent history from first-hand experience.

My book, The One That Stayed Behind, written for young and old, is an authentic retelling of one horrendous air raid in Mosta. It is a lament for my dearest departed father and two elder brothers. It was written to keep their memory alive, in gratitude for the happiness we shared in my childhood, and also for my heroic mother, who made sure we survived the horror of the aftermath of the air raid.

Commenting about the book the Literary Consultancy (TLC London) had written: “The heartbreaking story is presented through the eyes of Dora – the daughter who was left behind. It is told so simply: the close-knit family life and the larger social conditions of the Maltese community at the time are presented with sympathy but no sentimentality. The larger dimensions of the war are touched upon only as befits the theme. It is worth telling both emotionally and as a piece of history. The story is presented in short episodes by one theme – how little Dora manages to re-unite her family, her love surmounting all obstacles.”

Both English and Maltese versions of the book are at the Malta National Library.