Never-ageing story

Why are adults reading books meant for teenagers? Poulomi Banerjee explores

As 29-year-old Piyali Sanyal sat reading the lines, she began to grin. She could feel the romance coming. “Just as I passed, he went rigid in his seat. He stared at me again, meeting my eyes with the strangest expression on his face — it was hostile, furious. I looked away quickly, shocked, going red again.”

Then Piyali forwarded the link of the book, one of the Twilight series, to her friends with a note attached — “check this out, good read”.

“I was so hooked to the book that I would read even if I had a five-ten minute break at work. I just couldn’t stay away. I was extremely surprised because I’m not really into mushy romances, but here I was, reacting like a giggly teenager to Edward,” she recalls.

When Edward’s and Bella’s eyes lock, the world and its aunt are riveted to the love story between a human and a vampire, with the werewolf Jacob providing an interesting third angle. Marketed as a story for teenagers, the series is often as big a hit with the moms and elder sisters.

The series writer Stephanie Meyer had confessed in an interview: “I didn’t write these books specifically for the young-adult audience. I wrote them for me. I don’t know why they span the ages so well, but I find it comforting that a lot of 30-somethings with kids, like myself, respond to them as well — so I know that it’s not just that I’m a 15-year-old on the inside!”

Full report here Telegraph