Mariadela Villegas, a third-year student at the University of Texas in Austin, won Heywood Hill bookshop's "Library of a Lifetime" prize "after nominating Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 as the book that has 'meant the most' to her," the Bookseller reported. She will now receive one newly published and hand-picked hardback book per month for the rest of her life, delivered to her home from the London bookshop. The bookseller received 50,000 applications for the prize from more than 100 countries.
"I didn't think in a million years that I would be so lucky to win," Villegas said. "Books have always provided a refuge and comfort for me in difficult times. I'm the person who wants to go to a bookshop when she's sad or angry, because the mere presence of books provides relief. This amazing gift has completely changed my life and I will be forever grateful to Heywood Hill for having chosen my entry."
Bookshop manager Tom Nind said: "We think of Heywood Hill as the biggest little book shop in the world. This raffle is the proof in the pudding. Readers all over the world responded to our call. We are looking forward introducing our winners to new authors and books. To create such a unique personal relationship is the delight of what we do. In fact, among our oldest and dearest customers is Patricia Lovejoy from Greenwich, Conn., to whom we've been sending books every month by mail since the early 1970s."