Ronnie is the younger of two children, neither of whom ever knew their father. Her brother Peter is six years older than she is. Both children live with mum who is a drunken, lustful, emotional wreck; a woman who is guilt ridden by her past and unable to sustain healthy relationships with the opposite sex or her children. Mum provides Ronnie and Peter with a succession of stepfather figures; using the men in her life as a meal ticket and passport to a good time until she tires of them and moves on to the next man. At a at the age of 10 years, the only father figure Ronnie has ever grown close to walks out on the family. A few days later brother Peter leaves home also. Ronnie is left isolated, tending to the needs of a mother with whom she cannot relate and for who she feels no love. After Peter deserts the household, mum forbids any mention of his name ever again. To cope with the loss of her brother, Ronnie buries him in the recess of her mind. The story opens with Ronnie happily married to Pete. One day she opens the door to find her brother Peter, whom she has not seen for over twenty-five years standing there! All characters within the story are factual although the story itself is largely fictitious. As a Probation 0fficer and previous Divorce Court Welfare Officer for twenty-five years, I have been able to draw upon my own knowledge and insider experience of the British court system. On a more personal level, as a divorcee and access parent for many years, I possess the emotional insight to the anguish felt by frustrated access parents. On one level, this is the story of a woman's search for a meaningful identity to her roles as individual, partner, child and parent. It is also an indictment against the adversarial legal system and domestic court process, which frequently robs mothers and fathers of any parental dignity whilst denying the 'paramount interest of the child' concerned and often depriving both parents of achieving better avenues to a more humane outcome. The story is set in West Yorkshire between the 1960s and the 1980s. William Forde: November 2015
About the Author: William Forde was born in Ireland and now lives in Haworth, West Yorkshire, England with his wife Sheila. He has 5 children and is the author of 64 published books and 2 musical plays which are now available as Ebooks. One of West Yorkshire's most popular children's authors, his books were publicly read in over 2000 Yorkshire school assemblies by over 800 famous names and celebrities from the realms of Royalty, Film, Stage, Screen, Politics, Church, Sport between 1990 and 2002. The late Princess Diana read his earlier books to her then young sons, William and Harry. The late Nelson Mandela once phoned him to praise an African storybook he wrote. Others who have supported his works include 3 Princesses, 3 Prime Ministers, 2 Presidents and numerous Bishops of the realm. Former Chief Inspector of Schools for Ofsted, the late Chris Woodhead described his writings to the press as 'high quality literature.' Always at the forefront of change, he became the youngest Youth Leader and Trade Union Shop Steward in Great Britain at 18. In 1971, he founded Anger Management in Great Britain and freely gave his courses to the world. In the next 2 years, Anger Management courses mushroomed across the English-speaking world. In the mid-70s, he introduced Relaxation Training into HM Prisons. Between 1970 and 1995, he worked as a Probation Officer specialising in Relaxation Training, Anger and Stress Management, and Assertive Training Group Work introducing Relaxation Training groups into HM Prisons and many other establishments. He retired early due to ill health in 1995 to further his writing career. This led him to work with the Minister of Youth and Culture in Jamaica establishing a trans-Atlantic pen-pal project between 64 primary schools in Falmouth, Jamaica and Yorkshire. William was awarded the MBE in the 1995 New Year's Honours List for services to West Yorkshire. He has never sought to materially profit from the publication of his books and all profit from their sales (approx £200,000 between 1990 and 2002) were given to charity. His latest stories are romantic and are published for adults under the generic title of "Tales from Portlaw". However, his last two books have been 'strictly for adult' novels set in Northern England, where he has lived most of his life. In 2013, William Forde learned that he had a terminal illness (CLL) for which he is presently undergoing treatment.