When We Were Romans by Matthew Kneale is told from the perspective of 9 year old Lawrence. He lived in England with his mother, Hannah, and his sister, Jemima. Lawrence’s parents were divorced and his mother thought his father was spying on them and breaking into their cottage. So, Hannah packed Lawrence and Jemima up and headed to Rome, where she’d lived before she was married. While the three of them are there, things began to unravel and the reader realizes that Hannah is mentally ill before Lawrence does. Lawrence wrote:

"Mum changed so quickly, one moment she was all fine and then it was like a big ray just shon [sic] on her and made her go wrong."

Lawrence believed everything his mother was telling him and tried to help and protect her. He was forced to take a role he was too young for. This book shows how children are affected when they have a mentally ill parent.

I wanted to love this book, but ended up liking it. The book drew me in very quickly and finished with a bang, but I felt like the middle dragged some. Since it was told from Lawrence’s perspective, it was loaded with misspellings and I have to admit they bothered me. The cover of this book is a delight, though.