A different kind of book research
My new book, It Had to be You, is about Libby, who grew up in a fostering family. One foster carer who reviewed it commented on my ‘great research’. This made me smile. The research undertaken for the fostering aspect of this book included:
- The anxious waits for a knock at the door to announce the arrival of a child who’s probably just that day been told they have to leave behind their home, and all that’s familiar, and get taken to live with strangers.
- Being responsible for ten children over the past few years, most of them teenagers, all of whom have experienced trauma and challenges that I couldn’t begin to imagine, and can only do my best to try to understand.
- Countless all-nighters trying to help struggling young people by talking, watching TV, crying and laughing together – mostly listening, and then when they finally manage to fall asleep as the sun rises, simply getting on with another day.
- Many wonderful ‘first times’ with children whose ‘normal’ has been so different to most. First London trips, birthday parties, evening meals eaten around a table. First parents evening or spending their very own pocket money. The first time they messed up and didn’t get into trouble, but were comforted instead.
- The panic when a teenager isn’t where they’re supposed to be and of course they don’t answer their phone. The adrenaline when a hurting child slams the front door as their fight-or-flight response compels them to run.
- Endless meetings, admin, training and phone calls with professionals. Some of whom are a lifeline, others who we wouldn’t trust to babysit our own child for half an hour. Always, always fighting on behalf these children – reminding a broken system that they matter more than ticking a box on a form or what someone once wrote in a report.
- 24 hours a day, 7 days a week of loving, taking care of and sharing my heart with children who desperately need a safe place to call home
- The mixed emotions of saying goodbye, when a family is either reunited or permanently broken apart. The joy of knowing that for two children, there will be no goodbye, we will be in each other’s stories forever.
So, yes. It Had to be You had some great research. It is fictional, but every word was written from my heart.
You can pick up a copy of Beth Moran’s brand new book It Had To Be You here: https://mybook.to/ithadtobeyousocial