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Review of Raised by Committee by Entrada Publishing Completed 10/1/2024 Raised by Committee is an emotional and taxing coming-of-age recounting of a difficult childhood and the roles the adults played in forming the life of a young girl in England in the 1960s. The story follows Gail, a twelve-year-old girl, and the circumstances surrounding a critical time in her life. She and her three siblings live an unconventional life with their parents, who are musicians. Following a lengthy history of abuse at the hands of her father, Gail’s mother, who knows what is going on and is not without fault, declines to take her to speak with the police. Social services get involved, who contact the police. Gail and her siblings are made 'wards of the Court in need of moral protection'. They are placed in temporary children’s homes and shuffled around a good amount. The younger siblings have several experiences with foster families, while Gail ends up at Willowrey, a children’s home where she would be able to continue with her schooling. Haynes provides a recollection of the child protection system in England in the 1960s, The Children’s Committee determines everything about her path in life as she is separated from her parents and siblings. Willowrey provides her with some stability, and their staff is truly committed to doing what is in her best interest for a safe and productive future. There are profound hurts in this novel. Gail and her siblings are essentially abandoned by their parents, though they do have supervised visitation. Gail struggles with feeling unloved, unwanted, and alone during a critical period of her development. The shortcomings of her parents and other relatives were shocking and sadly all too common. Her sense of family and love becomes quite skewed, as she continues to search for her place in the world. “The look on Miss Stinson’s face told me what I already knew. I hadn’t found a mother, I had found a playmate. I wasn’t sure I would ever find my mother. I was no longer sure she really existed. My mother was now a kaleidoscope of people. She was Nurse and Aunty Dawn when I needed someone to care for me. She was Miss Stinson when I needed someone to talk things over with. She was the faceless Children’s Committee when I needed permission to do things. My mother didn’t have a lap I could curl up on; she had committee reports that were circulated and reviewed. My mother didn’t cherish my uniqueness, she demanded that I conform and live by rules established for the countless other children who had passed this way before me. I was file number 7952/2 of the Devon County Council.” As Gail ages, the challenges of teenage years take their toll on her and the staff raising her at Willowrey. She makes several mistakes and poor choices, as every teen does during those formative years, but feels as though she is under a microscope in the ways that her peers are not—a true difference between being raised by the Committee and not by her family. The story follows Gail until she ages out of the system, and it is a gift to see her journey. The Committee and her caseworker take a harsher role with her as she gets closer to adulthood, preparing her for the harsh world she is entering, but to some degree, harsh is all Gail has known. Haynes has worked through the traumatic truths of her past in this work and faced that past from the place she is now—and I was delighted to know that she had finally found her version of peace and happiness, and most of all, love. Raised by Committee is a wonderful and raw novel that is palatable for readers of all backgrounds.
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Author
I am the author of 'Raised by Committee', an award winning memoir released in 2010, and 'A Matter of Issue', a work of fiction released in June, 2016. Archives
October 2024
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BooksRAISED BY COMMITTEE
A MATTER OF ISSUE |
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