Arrabella had a dogged determination in her formative years to succeed in life. Her favourite academic subject being English Literature. She was very successful on track and field, representing her local Comprehensive School and Athletics Club. Her ambitions were put on hold abruptly, through personal family trauma. She never gave up on her goals, gaining an LLB Law Degree and Master’s Degree in Law, as a mature student. She has held down several professional roles in the Legal Profession, Police, as well as mentoring international students at a FE College. She currently works at a school as a Behaviour & Learning Practitioner, supporting students with behavioural issues. Arrabella has a ‘can do’ approach and uses every obstacle that she’s faced in life, as a challenge to turn into a positive outcome. Her hobbies include writing, gardening, walking, and collecting antiques.
Susie is a four-year-old determined child born in the UK, whose parents have come to the UK from the Caribbean during the Windrush years in the late 1950s to help with rebuilding the country after the Second World War. A battle of wills ensues between the diminutive, wiry and strong-willed Susie and her overbearing and towering father who commands obedience from not only Susie and her siblings, but also her mother.
Although tender in years, Susie develops a stoicism which is remarkable for her age, and risks being ostracised from her family with her steely determination to stand up to her father. She is faced with negotiating the juxtaposition of conflict between two opposing cultures, which creates an internal tug of war and cultural confusion. Her identity is challenged, with Susie questioning where she really belongs. With the odds stacked against her, we see a strength of spirit which shines through and never diminishes. Even in the face of adversity, she pushes herself towards what looks like an uncertain future, determined to succeed come what may.
How could an astute 11-year-old child called Susie manage to pull off the impossible by escaping from the grips of her abusive and dominant father? She knew in her mind that there would have to be a trade-off which she would have had to come to terms with, and possibly regret for the rest of her life.
Finding herself thrust into the care of the local authority, she is taken aback and shaken to the core by the contrast in the family that she has left behind and the new ‘family’ that she has now inherited.
She finds herself in a ‘no-man’s land,’ where she can either wait and see where life takes her, or admit defeat and return home to her abusive and dominating father, who she feels will have the upper hand over her, not only physically, but also psychologically.
Susie’s resolve is stronger than it has ever been, and although she is faced with feelings of despair and helplessness of being let down by the system that she thought was supposed to be there to protect her when she needed it most, she pushes through into what seems to be an uncertain future. She has a steely determination to face life head on, and is resolute in her mind to keep on going, pushing forwards to see where life takes her.
I came about writing my book when I was caring for my mother who was housebound and terminally. It was then that I began to reflect on the difficult life that my mother and father had encountered a ........
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