“A book club in prison is the best thing on planet Earth, it really is,” says Omar Mentesh, who spent nearly two decades in and out of jail from his teenage years.
“It’s just people sharing, from all walks of life… and when they’re in the book club, they find the book actually leads the conversation into other things. And I think for people who struggle to open up it was great.”
The 44-year-old, from South Woodford in east London, features in a new BBC documentary led by Queen Camilla, called The Book That Changed My Life, which looks at how reading had a profound impact on five different people.
For Mentesh, what began as a means of escape became something that would change him forever.
Mentesh grew up on the Maiden Lane Estate in Camden.
“If you’re going to be a kid, it’s a perfect estate because there’s a cubbyhole, alleyways, garages and places to run around. And unfortunately, places a kid shouldn’t go,” he tells BBC London.
One day, aged five, he and a group of friends went exploring through a hole in the fence by the estate’s playground, which led to a train track.
“I remember taking a step forward and just feeling like someone was picking me up and was shaking me – and obviously I was being electrocuted.
“My shoes are the thing that saved my life, because they had rubber soles… but then the electricity had to exit somewhere and it exited through my head.”
