Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsAnother emotional story from Cathy Glass
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 October 2016
I am a huge supporter of Cathy Glass and her books. I used to work within Childrens Social Services, as a support services officer, and although I wasn’t involved in front line social work I still became caught up in cases. I had to liaise with foster carers and occasionally I had to research certain topics. It was whilst I was working within Childrens Services that I first discovered Cathy and her books. I have all of her books and when I was offered the chance to review her latest book called ‘Can I Let You Go?’, I naturally jumped at it.
Cathy is asked to foster a 24 year old girl called Faye, who is pregnant but who also has FAS (Foetal Alcohol Syndrome) as a result of her mother’s drinking. Faye has learning disabilities and is very child like in her behaviour. She is a child within a young woman’s body. The intention is that she will have the baby in foster care and she will then give the baby up for adoption. It’s a mystery as to how Faye has become pregnant as she never goes out alone and she lives with her grandparents who have mobility issues. I don’t want to say too much more as I don’t want to spoil the book for those, who would like to read it. Cathy writes movingly and tenderly about Faye, the FAS and Faye’s pregnancy. It’s true that there is a lot of detail given in the book about Faye’s daily routine that some people might feel is mundane, but I think that it adds to the story and illustrates the difficulties that Faye has to cope with on a daily basis.
What I also like about Cathy’s books, is that she writes objectively about Social Services. As is often the case, Social Services are often unfairly criticized but Cathy gives a true picture of the often dangerous situations that social workers find themselves in and the heartbreaking decisions that have to be made in the best interests of the children concerned, as well as cope with ever increasing caseloads. Faye decides that she wants to keep the baby and her social worker pulls out all the stops to give her the chance to prove that she is able to care for her child. Cathy also does everything she can to help Faye in her attempt to convince Social Services that she (Faye) can adequately care for her child.
Cathy’s books are always emotional and thought provoking but I found that this one affected me more than her others. I could see that Cathy was trying her hardest to help Faye as well as care for the other members of her family and prepare for the arrival of Faye’s baby. I really immersed myself in the story and felt the heartache of Faye, her grandparents, Cathy and Cathy’s children. It was as if my heartstrings were being pulled in all directions. On more than one occasion my eyes filled with tears and I could sense what was coming next.
I really do think that Cathy Glass is an inspirational person. It takes a special kind of caring person to become a foster carer and Cathy Glass is definitely one special caring lady. She talks honestly about how Faye settles in to her household and the emotional trauma that they go through when Faye returns to her grandparents. They soon pick themselves up though and Cathy gets ready to accept another child in need of a foster placement.
In short, I really did love this book and would recommend it to anybody, who wanted to get an insight into FAS (Foetal Alcohol Syndrome) and into what it takes to be a foster carer. I give this book 5* and I can’t wait to read more books by Cathy Glass.