Helpless
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Narrated by:
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DeNica Fairman
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Written by:
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Cathy Glass
About this listen
The 32nd fostering memoir from international bestseller Cathy Glass
Struggling to cope with three young children, Janie turns to experienced foster carer Cathy Glass. Helping the family each morning, Cathy soon uncovers how dangerous their situation has truly become.
Riley and his two little siblings, Jayden and Lola, are not safe at home.
With all three children in her care, will Cathy be able to rebuild their lives – and Janie’s?
©2024 Cathy Glass (P)2024 HarperCollins PublishersYou may also enjoy...
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Unsafe
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Damian is just seven when he is taken in by foster carer Cathy Glass. His mother, Rachel, loves her three young children dearly, but she is vulnerable, naïve and unable to cope on her own. Cathy sets about helping Damian overcome his eating issues, with the hope that he will eventually return home. But when Rachel’s new boyfriend, Troy, arrives on the scene, Cathy becomes deeply concerned. She soon realises that Damian and his siblings are in great danger.
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Cathy winding down
- By Amazon Customer on 2024-01-26
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Will You Help Me?
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Six-year-old Ralph has only been in the care system for three days and has already been rejected by three different foster carers. After hitting a teacher at his school and causing mayhem since he arrived four months ago, staff are unable to get a hold of his mum and her partner. Social Services are called and when Ralph turns up at Maggie's house, she knows immediately it's going to be a challenge. From Britain's most-loved foster carer, a new powerful true story of abuse, family and hope.
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Little Girl Lost
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Six-year-old Amelie lives with her mother, Kelly, who suffers from bipolar disorder. After Kelly attempts to burn down their family house, it becomes clear that her daughter is in grave danger. Amelie is quickly taken into care. When she arrives with foster carer Casey Watson, Amelie acts much younger than her age. Casey must get to the root of Amelie’s behaviour, while doing what she can to keep the family together. Will Amelie ever find the safety of home?
Written by: Casey Watson
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Unwanted
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Overall
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Performance
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Lara was seven when her birth mother died from a drug overdose. With no extended family to look after her, she was put into foster care. The care system failed Lara and now she is failing her son. Lara and her one-year-old son, Arthur, are brought to experienced foster carer, Cathy Glass, by their social worker. Lara has fled an abusive relationship and Arthur has suspected non-accidental injuries. Cathy must monitor Lara whenever she is with her son, day and night. She cannot let them out of her sight for a minute.
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Love them all
- By Melski on 2023-08-06
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Stella's Story
- Thrown Away Children, Book 1
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Named after the lager that christened her at birth, Stella's life is characterised instability and neglect. Her teenage mother abandons her in the first few weeks of her life, and left in the 'care' of her father, she ends up lying deserted in a house with no food, no water, no clothes and no warmth. She eventually lands in the care of foster carer Louise, who is determined to change her life for the better.
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Heartbreaking, yet, heartwarming
- By Laura R. on 2023-05-04
Written by: Louise Allen
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A Long Way from Home
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The true story of two-year-old Anna, abandoned by her natural parents, left alone in a neglected orphanage. Elaine and Ian had travelled halfway round the world to adopt little Anna. She couldn't have been more wanted, loved and cherished. So why was she now in foster care and living with me? It didn't make sense.
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Not the best story
- By Nightskymama on 2020-07-08
Written by: Cathy Glass
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Unsafe
- Written by: Cathy Glass
- Narrated by: DeNica Fairman
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Overall
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Damian is just seven when he is taken in by foster carer Cathy Glass. His mother, Rachel, loves her three young children dearly, but she is vulnerable, naïve and unable to cope on her own. Cathy sets about helping Damian overcome his eating issues, with the hope that he will eventually return home. But when Rachel’s new boyfriend, Troy, arrives on the scene, Cathy becomes deeply concerned. She soon realises that Damian and his siblings are in great danger.
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Cathy winding down
- By Amazon Customer on 2024-01-26
Written by: Cathy Glass
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Will You Help Me?
- Ralph’s true story of abuse, secrets and lies
- Written by: Maggie Hartley
- Narrated by: Penny McDonald
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Six-year-old Ralph has only been in the care system for three days and has already been rejected by three different foster carers. After hitting a teacher at his school and causing mayhem since he arrived four months ago, staff are unable to get a hold of his mum and her partner. Social Services are called and when Ralph turns up at Maggie's house, she knows immediately it's going to be a challenge. From Britain's most-loved foster carer, a new powerful true story of abuse, family and hope.
Written by: Maggie Hartley
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Little Girl Lost
- Written by: Casey Watson
- Narrated by: Kate Lock
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
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Performance
-
Story
Six-year-old Amelie lives with her mother, Kelly, who suffers from bipolar disorder. After Kelly attempts to burn down their family house, it becomes clear that her daughter is in grave danger. Amelie is quickly taken into care. When she arrives with foster carer Casey Watson, Amelie acts much younger than her age. Casey must get to the root of Amelie’s behaviour, while doing what she can to keep the family together. Will Amelie ever find the safety of home?
Written by: Casey Watson
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Unwanted
- Written by: Cathy Glass
- Narrated by: DeNica Fairman
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
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Performance
-
Story
Lara was seven when her birth mother died from a drug overdose. With no extended family to look after her, she was put into foster care. The care system failed Lara and now she is failing her son. Lara and her one-year-old son, Arthur, are brought to experienced foster carer, Cathy Glass, by their social worker. Lara has fled an abusive relationship and Arthur has suspected non-accidental injuries. Cathy must monitor Lara whenever she is with her son, day and night. She cannot let them out of her sight for a minute.
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Love them all
- By Melski on 2023-08-06
Written by: Cathy Glass
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Stella's Story
- Thrown Away Children, Book 1
- Written by: Louise Allen
- Narrated by: Melanie Crawley
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Named after the lager that christened her at birth, Stella's life is characterised instability and neglect. Her teenage mother abandons her in the first few weeks of her life, and left in the 'care' of her father, she ends up lying deserted in a house with no food, no water, no clothes and no warmth. She eventually lands in the care of foster carer Louise, who is determined to change her life for the better.
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Heartbreaking, yet, heartwarming
- By Laura R. on 2023-05-04
Written by: Louise Allen
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A Long Way from Home
- Written by: Cathy Glass
- Narrated by: Denica Fairman
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The true story of two-year-old Anna, abandoned by her natural parents, left alone in a neglected orphanage. Elaine and Ian had travelled halfway round the world to adopt little Anna. She couldn't have been more wanted, loved and cherished. So why was she now in foster care and living with me? It didn't make sense.
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Not the best story
- By Nightskymama on 2020-07-08
Written by: Cathy Glass
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An Innocent Baby
- Why would anyone abandon little Darcy-May?
- Written by: Cathy Glass
- Narrated by: Denieca Fairman
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
When foster carer Cathy Glass is asked to foster Darcy-May, a two-day-old baby, she is very concerned. The baby is coming to her straight from the hospital and will have no contact with her teenage mother, Haylea. Even more worrying, she will be brought to Cathy with a police escort, as it’s vital her extended family don't know where she is.
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Interesting foster care account
- By Hanna on 2023-05-31
Written by: Cathy Glass
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Exploited
- Written by: Maggie Hartley
- Narrated by: Penny McDonald
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Fourteen-year-old Hannah comes to live with foster carer Maggie Hartley after her mum pleads with Social Services to take her into care, unable to cope with her daughter anymore. Previously a good student, a loving daughter and sister, Hannah is now playing truant, drinking and taking drugs. Angry and mistrustful, it seems that nobody can reach this troubled teenager.
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good work Maggie!
- By Laura duchesne on 2021-04-05
Written by: Maggie Hartley
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A Family Torn Apart
- Written by: Cathy Glass
- Narrated by: Denica Fairman
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Angie, 6, and sister Polly, 4, are utterly distraught when they arrive to stay with foster carer Cathy Glass. Their older half-sister Ashleigh has accused their father of rape, and the two young sisters have been removed from home to keep them safe. Cathy tries to comfort the girls, but they are inconsolable. They just want their mummy and daddy, who they love dearly. The girls appear to have been well looked after, but as they settle and start to talk of life at home, it becomes clear something is badly wrong.
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Amazing as always
- By Anonymous User on 2023-02-05
Written by: Cathy Glass
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Broken
- The Most Shocking Childhood Story Ever Told. An Inspirational Author Who Survived It.
- Written by: Shy Keenan
- Narrated by: Judy Mason
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
I was born and broken in Birkenhead, abused from infancy by a network of every kind of pervert from ‘thinks it’s love’ to ‘show it hurts’. I was unwanted, beaten, sold, swapped, photographed, filmed, left for dead, corrupted, blamed, betrayed, ignored and orphaned. But I was also born with a fire inside me. I call it my Phoenix Fire. I am no victim—that word only describes what happened to me. Nor am I a survivor because that implies I am over it. I am a Phoenix—a work in progress. This is my story....
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This isn't a true story.
- By Trevor on 2024-04-23
Written by: Shy Keenan
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A Family Secret
- My Shocking True Story of Surviving a Childhood in Hell
- Written by: Maureen Wood
- Narrated by: Rachel Atkins
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Abused from the age of eight by her older brother and then her step-father, Maureen Wood quickly became numb to the constant suffering. But Maureen’s world crumbled when her own mother started to abuse her too. A Family Secret is the harrowing true story of how one little girl survived sickening abuse by the people who should have loved her most and how an innocent baby finally saved her.
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A Brave Story
- By Tamara F. on 2023-05-26
Written by: Maureen Wood
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A Life Lost
- Jackson Is Haunted by a Secret from His Past
- Written by: Cathy Glass
- Narrated by: Denica Fairman
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Jackson is aggressive, confrontational and often volatile. His mother, Kayla, is crippled with grief after tragically losing her husband and eldest son. Struggling to cope, she puts Jackson into foster care. Cathy, his carer, encourages Jackson to talk about what has happened to his family, but he just won’t engage. His actions continue to test and worry everyone. Then, in a dramatic turn of events, the true reason for Jackson’s behaviour comes to light....
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so sad but so good.
- By Christine on 2021-02-19
Written by: Cathy Glass
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The Asylum
- Written by: Ann Cusack - contributor, Carol Minto, Joe Cusack - contributor
- Narrated by: Fiona McNeill
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
For 46 years, Carol Minto has quietly gone about her life, carrying with her the most extraordinary and heartbreaking secrets. In The Asylum, Carol tells the full story of how she overcame unimaginable suffering, to find the happiness and solace she has today as a mother and grandmother.
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Painful to listen to.
- By J Brandon. on 2022-06-11
Written by: Ann Cusack - contributor, and others
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Mummy, Please Don’t Leave
- Written by: Casey Watson
- Narrated by: Kate Lock
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Watsons are no strangers to sibling placements, but when Casey takes the call from her supervising social worker one frosty January morning, she can instantly tell from the tone of her colleague’s voice that there’s a complicated case ahead. And she’s right. A four-day-old baby boy called Tommy - born in prison - plus his four-year-old half-brother, the lively Seth. A month later, the very moment she gets out of prison, the boys’ mother - a 19-year-old called Jenna - also follows.
Written by: Casey Watson
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Run, Mummy, Run
- Written by: Cathy Glass
- Narrated by: Denica Fairman
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
From the author of Sunday Times and New York Times best seller Damaged, the gripping story of a woman caught in a horrific cycle of abuse - and the desperate lengths she must go to in order to escape. When Aisha spots an ad for a 'personal introductory service for professionals' in the newspaper, she could never have guessed it would lead to such a perfect marriage. But you should be careful what you wish for.... Mark is sorry the first time he hits Aisha.
Written by: Cathy Glass
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Damaged: The Heartbreaking True Story of a Forgotten Child
- Written by: Cathy Glass
- Narrated by: Denica Fairman
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Although Jodie is only eight years old, she is violent, aggressive, and has already been through numerous foster families. Her last hope is Cathy Glass. At the Social Services office, Cathy (an experienced foster carer) is pressured into taking Jodie as a new placement. Jodie's challenging behaviour has seen off five carers in four months. Despite her reservations, Cathy decides to take on Jodie to protect her from being placed in an institution.
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touching
- By Amazon Customer on 2019-04-26
Written by: Cathy Glass
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The Saddest Girl in the World
- Written by: Cathy Glass
- Narrated by: Denica Fairman
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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The Sunday Times and New York Times best-selling author of Damaged tells the true story of Donna, who came into foster care aged 10, having been abused, victimised, and rejected by her family. Donna has been in foster care with her two young brothers for three weeks when she is abruptly moved to Cathy's. When Donna arrives she is silent, withdrawn, and walks with her shoulders hunched forward and her head down.
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way to go Donna!
- By Laura duchesne on 2021-03-30
Written by: Cathy Glass
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The Night the Angels Came
- Written by: Cathy Glass
- Narrated by: Denica Fairman
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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A new memoir from Sunday Times and New York Times best-selling author Cathy Glass. When Cathy receives a call about a terminally ill widower terrified of leaving his son all alone in the world, she is wracked with sadness and indecision. Can she risk exposing her own young children to a little boy on the brink of bereavement? Eight-year-old Michael is part of a family of two, but with his beloved father given only months to live and his mother having died when he was a toddler, he could soon become an orphan.
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A wonderful story
- By Angela on 2023-01-30
Written by: Cathy Glass
What listeners say about Helpless
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Amazon Customer
- 2024-09-06
A solid entry in Cathy’s post-fostering career
Some spoilers ahead.
While the previous book from Glass was meandering and ultimately a bit pointless, feeling like a slow coast to a stop as she wrapped up fostering for good, this book manages to recover some momentum after all. Cathy’s new job as a community liaison who helps support families in their homes to prevent them from sliding into the disarray that necessitates removing children is as vital a role as she played before, although now she finds herself caught up in the story of the parents more than the children.
This was an interesting change of pace. Cathy knows how to manage children, and even in the writing of this book often gives our advice on incentives, child-rearing, discipline and consistency. But this is her first time managing an adult who behaves like a child, and her usual techniques are stymied in the face of toxic behaviour and cycles of poor decision making. It’s one thing to break a habit in a child and make new, healthy ones - what do you do with a parent who has children because of the bad choices and habits they had, and therefore will continue to have as it becomes their source of coping with those mistakes?
It’s painful, hearing Janey repeatedly verbally abuse her kids and endanger their new puppy. But it’s even more painful to realize that her trust is routinely betrayed by others in her life, as she’s preyed upon by people she believes to be her friends. A single mother on benefits is somehow still a target for the monsters of the world. Her loneliness is palpable, and it isn’t surprising that she tries to fill it in all the wrong ways - by dating bad men, getting a dog, and cosseting her youngest like a doll.
I also enjoyed the reflective visits to the retired foster care woman, whom Cathy has such an obvious bond with. As Cathy contemplates moving to senior care, I find myself looking forward to the stories she might tell from the other end of human existence.
Finally, the brief respite care of a child who comes out swinging against the foster care system repeatedly returning her to her unfit mother raises a question Cathy has occasionally rumbled on in the past - if the attempts to reunite children with their parents at any costs is actually a detriment. This comes to a head near the end of the book, where Cathy makes a call that ultimately removes Janey’s children from her. Janey feels betrayed that the one truly honest person in her life had “turned against her” - especially sad given her loneliness and bad judgement - but as Cathy rightly states, it was Janey who had betrayed herself. And yet Cathy’s guilt drives her to help Janey get her children back - even though she is weighed by doubts that it’s the best thing for them. Unfortunately this is a recent story, so time will tell if returning to their mostly well-meaning but very immature mother was the right thing for Janey’s three children and Max the dog.
I really enjoyed the self-reflection Cathy did in this book. It was more engaging than in the last, and featured her doubts and uncertainty in her new role in a way I haven’t seen since her first novels. Though she may have drawn out the material a bit too much, there is something to say for the repetitive self-destruction Cathy witnesses in Janey’s life, and the helplessness she feels trying to “parent” an adult.
Finally, this is the first time I feel Danica Fairman let down Cathy a bit. Her performance as Janey was a redo of Cass from “Cruel to be Kind”, but lacked the humanity and eventual warmth she lent that poor woman. Janey is given a distinctly detestable tone throughout, even in her more vulnerable moments.
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