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

Give Me the Child by Mel McGrath

Do we get the children we deserve?

Cat. Tom. Freya. A nice happy little family….until it isn’t.

Imagine that you wake in the middle of the night to a knock on the door. A police officer stands there with a young girl; a child you had no idea existed until that moment and just like that the familiar life that you knew is gone.

Cat Lupo is the woman whose world starts to fall apart after she discovers that her video games designer husband Tom has fathered Ruby after a one night encounter. Ruby’s mother has died in suspicious circumstances and Tom is the only family that she has.

As a clinical child psychologist Cat spends her days treating children who have been diagnosed with anti-social personality disorders. While Cat is in shock she does want to do what is right for the girl and tries to accept Ruby into their life, but all is not right with the girl. Items go missing, a dead hamster is found in Cat’s bed and Freya becomes quiet and withdrawn. Cat with all her training can recognise mentally ill children and she becomes convinced that that is what Ruby is. It is not long before she begins to fear for her own daughter’s safety, a concern she tries to share with her husband and her sister without positive results as they start to believe that an intensive period of psychosis suffered before the birth of her own child has once again taken hold of Cat.

Seeming to lose all her lines of support we are drawn into the claustrophobic intensity of the unfolding drama as Cat hunts for the truth about Ruby, her mother Lily her evasive husband Tom and dark secrets from the past..

Cat’s research tells her there’s no such thing as evil. Her history tells her she’s paranoid. Her instincts tell her different.

Give Me The Child is a skilfully written, engrossing read with an unforgettable twist at the end . This is the story of a dysfunctional family in meltdown which asks uncomfortable but important questions about how much we know about our partners, our children and ourselves.

Reviewed by Fiona Frost 

Catalogue link: Give Me the Child