Author:Julie Lynn Evans
Foreword by Professor Peter Hill, Consultant Child Psychiatrist, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children
More than 28 per cent of children in the UK are affected by the separation of their parents. Often they have to cope alone. Many adults tell themselves that children are resilient, while others feel they are hurting the people they love the most.In this book, Julie Lynn Evans will help you to do what she does professionally, by identifying with your children and providing powerful practical tools to overcome their problems.
What About the Children?:
* Advises on children of all ages from toddlers to teenagers
* Helps carers, friends and relatives, as well as parents, to interpret a child's symptoms and reactions
* Explains how a child's friendships, schooling and overall well-being are affected
* Provides tips on how to really listen and take action when a child tries to communicate difficult feelings
* Highlights advantages for children with single, separated or divorced parents
With case studies to illustrate a whole range of symptoms, Julie Lynn Evans demonstrates the myriad ways in which children express their emotions under stress. From the 'dragon child' to the 'too-good child', her sensitive and calm voice will reassure you at a time when your own world is under great strain.
Compassionate and sensitive, Julie Lynn Evans' book should become a bible for every adult interested in helping children from fragmented homes.
—— Nigella LawsonJulie Lynn Evans is an original therapist. She is an active listener and by using the creative arts can discover a will to communicate in the most unforthcoming young person. She is creative herself, energetic, proactive and resourceful ... modern therapy carried out with true and inspiring mastery.
—— Professor Peter Hill, Great Ormond Street Hospital for ChildrenI can't remember when a book made me more angry. Lawrence's book should be compulsory reading
—— Allison Pearson, on Not on the Label , Evening StandardClare should be cloned and made freely available to all mothers!
—— Debra Stottor, Editor, Junior Pregnancy & BabyAs a first-time mum, Clare gave me the confidence to breast-feed successfully and to appreciate that, with the right technique, it can be a totally pain-free and profoundly bonding experience with your baby. It was only because of Clare that I managed to do seven months
—— Trinny WoodallDespite the darkness of the rooms she re-enters, her book isn't gloomy in the least... Extracts from her journal and faxes to Herman offset the main narrative, which darts back and forth in time. It's a structure that works wonderfully well... However unforgiving her detail, tout comprendre, c'est tout pardonner is the message of this extraordinary book
—— Blake Morrison , GuardianHaving read her family memoir, a book that engrosses and horrifies in equal measure, it is hard not to be reminded of Larkin's famous axiom: 'They fuck you up your mum and dad.'... 'Blackburn's writing transcends the frightening idiosyncrasies of her upbringing. Her prose is understated and evocative, despite the desperate truths that lurk beneath.'... 'It would be easy for Blackburn to attribute blame or to seek explanation, but her refusal to do so gives this triptych portrait an integrity and honesty that it could otherwise lack.
—— ObserverThe fact that I was unable to put [the book] down is proof of how well she tells [the story], and of how such an experience, if described with real skill, honesty, and sensitivity, will make a valuable book, however many others of a similar kind have been published.... I ended it feeling very glad indeed that I had overcome my first disinclination to begin it
—— Diana Athill , Literary Review[Blackburn] has written an exceptionally perceptive and fascinating book, a tribute by a remarkable daughter to the resilience of filial love.
—— Anne Chisholm , Sunday TelegraphIn this memoir she describes her eccentric, dangerous, wonderful bohemian parents...Blackburn emerged from this turmoil as a fine writer, and this book is full of understanding and reconciliation
—— Margaret Drabble , New Statesmana rich account...brilliant vignettes
—— Camilla Long , Sunday TimesThis piercing memoir paints in vivid colours Julia Blackburn's nightmarish childhood
—— Alison Flood , The TelegraphBlackburn tells us about these things in a compelling authorial voice which is by turns numb and incredibly sensitive
—— William Leith , Evening StandardBrutally honest book ...deeply moving testament to the love that can somehow survive
—— Aimee Shalan , GuardianAn extraordinary family memoir... A bohemian classic
—— Week