Durng my nightly phone call to my mother, I asked her if she remembered me reading the book about the ship on fire mentioned in the post below.
She didn't. "It's not like me to let you read a book like that," my mother says, "given how much I run a mile from anything violent."
It's true. She's an avid news freak - but any mention of war, earthquakes, refugee camps, starvation and she's channel hopping away, even to the snooker which she abomnates. And she's always been like that - metaphorically hiding behind the sofa.
So why wouldn't she, all those years ago, been my sympathetic when I read about a ship in flames at see - probably accompanied by an Illustration?
Perhaps I made the story up, or dreamt it. (I find this thought disturbing)
"What made you start thinking about this?" my mother asks, sounding almost alarmed. "Are you thinking of writing your autobiography?"
menhir
Why should your mother remember something you read? Do you have any recollection of discussing it in depth with her at the time; did she read it with you? In view of what you say her reactions might have been, it is unlikely, would you not think, that you would have had any sort of chat about a ship on fire. You might have read it, your mother might have been in the vicinity when you did, but may not have necessarily been aware of your reading material, or chose not to be.
There are many variables in this matter and any number of answers to the conundrum; even yours may not be the definitive answer. I would comment though, that your mother's last response, as written, is an interesting one.