[Mithalwen]

I was nine and I had to go and buy the book with my pocket money to find out how it ended as I missed the last episode. This inspired Father Christmas to get me the Lord of the rings that year but although I was a keen reader with a high reading age I didn’t have the mental stamina to hold the multiple threads and ground
To a halt at the beginning of Return of the King.Also too dim to realise that there was a clue in the title that there might be a happy ending despite the horror of Cirith Ungol. About a year later I was off school for a few weeks with one of the childhood illnesses and tried again and was hooked so I am very impressed by those who read it in extreme youth.