Book description
The fifth book from bestselling author and specialist foster carer
Casey Watson.
A recent census shows that there are at least 175,000 child carers in
the UK, 13,000 of whom care for more than 50 hours a week. Many remain
invisible to a system that would otherwise help them. Abigail is one of
those children. This is her story.
Ten-year-old Abigail's mother Sarah has been rushed into hospital.
Sarah has multiple sclerosis (MS) and has had a terrible fall. MS is a
crippling disease, and progressively debilitating, and Sarah is now in a
very bad way. Abigail has never known her father; she and her mother
have coped alone since she was three. From being little more than a
toddler Abigail has single-handedly cared for her, gradually learning to
shop, cook and clean, and attend to her mother's personal care. Suddenly
this has all come to social services attention and Abigail has nowhere
to go.
Though not fitting the usual profile of a child for the Watsons (they
are specialist foster carers) Casey and Mike are happy to step in and
look after Abigail - it's an emergency situation, after all. And all
that's needed is a loving, temporary home while social services look
into how best to support the family so that mother and daughter can be reunited.
But it soon becomes apparent that this isn't going to happen. Tania's
MS is now at a very advanced stage, and the doctors are certain that
there will no longer be periods of remission. Meanwhile Abigail's
emotional state starts to spiral out of control as she struggles to let
go of the burdening responsibilities she's had for so long. Sarah and
Abigail insist that they do not need help, but with no other family to
contact, social services are left with no choice but to find long-term
care for Abigail … but Casey isn't one to give up, and she's determined
there must be another solution.
Includes a sample chapter of Sunday Times bestseller Trafficked.
Casey Watson is a specialist foster carer. She has been working in this
field for six years after giving up her position as a behaviour manager
for a local school. During this time she has welcomed 14 difficult to
place children into her home.
As a specialist foster carer she works with profoundly damaged
children, seeing each child through a specific behavioural modification
programme, at the end of which they will hopefully be in the position to
be returned either back to their family or into mainstream foster care.
Casey combines fostering with writing, usually late at night when the
rest of the family is sleeping.
Casey is married with two grown-up children and three grandchildren.
The name Casey Watson is a pseudonym.
