Selma Blair Dishes on the Books That Changed Her Life2010-12-14

Selma Blair really related to the main character of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s children's book The Secret Garden, and she claims the novel helped her learn how to be happier.

She said: "This book changed me the most, for the best. I was kind of a depressed teenager. My mother would introduce my sisters and say, ‘Ok, this is the athlete, this is the overachiever, and then this is Selma, the manic depressive.’

“It's strange that such a childish book had such an effect on me, but it did. I felt so like sour Mary, and the book transformed me the way the garden transformed her -- teaching her not to let sad, bad thoughts stay in her head."

The actress loves being given new books to read and still carries the copy of J.D. Salinger’s Nine Stories given to her by Jake Gyllenhaal everywhere.

Speaking about the book, she told Britain’s Elle magazine: "Jake Gyllenhaal gave it to me many years ago because it's one his favourites, and in exchange I gave him a copy of Till We Have Faces.

"I got this book maybe nine years ago, but I still carry it in whatever bag I have. It reminds me of the friendship I once had with Jake and these amazing stories by this author that I love." 

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