The Books of Cathy Glass: Part 1

Fostering children has always been something I have been interested in, in part because of my fascination with the 300’s section of our libraries - true stories of people who have been through the worst in life and come out the other side. You hear so many stories about how kids in the system end up in the adult prison system, or on the streets. The idea of being able to help even a small number of people by offering a safe space has always appealed to me, I’m just not in a position to do it right now.

I discovered the books by Cathy Glass right before we went into lockdown here in NZ. In general, the books I pick up from the 300’s are a one-off, as they are memoirs, and there’s only so much one person can say about their life. These books are different, as they are the story of a number of children which the author has fostered over the years. With over 20 years of experience, I was impressed that Cathy still learned something new from each and every child, which helps keep the books from feeling repetitive.

As I read each book, I learn something new about the system that is Social Services. While I understand that the system differs from country to country, it is fascinating to see how the system is interconnected and how the various departments work together, and how sometimes, the system does fail. You hear many stories about the system not working, and Cathy does a good job of showing that she too feels this at times, but also how it can happen; how big the system is, and how the many parts of the system are human, and that mistakes can happen.

The more of these books that I read the more I want to read. I like that Cathy gives an insight into her own family as well as the foster children - the first book I read, Innocent, has her children as adults. As I picked up more and more books I gained a picture of the lives her children led and went on to lead.

I won’t go into too much detail about these books, as doing so without spoilers is quite hard. I will just touch on anything that stood out to me.

I think Nobody’s Son was the most painful for me to read, because of the situation the foster child encounters in the middle of the book. While it hurt, I still found it fascinating that such a situation  could even occur. I think this is one of the situations where the changing of names was even more imperative that usual, as the ill-will towards the other parties involved would have been strong. I did like that Cathy told further into the life of the young man in this story, as his on-going struggles are important - life isn’t all rainbows and unicorns just because you have made it out of the short term foster system. 

Cut was a more vivid and intense situation than a lot of the following books, as it was about one of the very first foster children that Cathy took in. During this time she was still married, and her husband had a role in the care that took place. For a new carer, a child who sleepwalks and has deep seated and untreated trauma, Cathy manages to convey the fear and uncertainty she and her husband face.

The audiobook reader for these books, Denica Fairman, is fantastic. I don’t know if they chose someone who was a warm, motherly type, or whether she holds any similarity to the author in any way, but the voice and the cadence and the general vibe is of a homely, motherly person, which I felt fits very well with the topic at hand.

Content warnings: child abuse, some strong language, mental illness

Rating (audiobooks): 4.5 stars

Posted by Li