New Cathy Glass memoir (Jan 2023) 'Unwanted'

[PlaitBilledDuckyPuss]

I've just started reading this - anyone else?

Just me then 😀

I read it in two days. Very good book, reminders of the pandemics and a good outcome for a mother and baby placement. Very uplifting for this kind of novel. Did you like it?

Yes, I enjoyed it and finished it yesterday. It did take me back to the lockdowns - I think it will seem even more nostalgic in a few years. Interesting that the person who gave Frazer a job was the husband of one of Cathy's earliest foster children - I wondered if that was true-to-life or just a way of giving an update on Donna.

I thought Cathy was well connected and how she helped give young people a hand up in life. I read it on Kindle but wish I’d bought the book to keep. Great story.

I can’t wait to pick this up tomorrow as I need a good book to catch up on

Money saving tip - If you have a Tesco Clubcard and know anyone who reads the Daily Mail, you can get the book for £3 at the moment in Tesco, if bought with a copy of the Daily Mail. The Daily Mail is 90p so this still represents a saving on the typical price of the book, even if you just recycle the newspaper (but, obviously, this tip no use if it's a newspaper you refuse to buy on principle).

If you haven't already read them, you might also like 'Please Don't Take My Baby' - that's another mum and baby placement story, with a teenage mum; also 'Can I Let You Go' where Cathy fosters a young woman with learning difficulties who is pregnant.

I read through it very quickly and enjoyed it but I felt like it was released too soon. All the detail she goes into about how the lockdown affected them will be really interesting to read in 10 or 20 years but right now the memories are far too raw. We all know what it was like.
Outside of the detail about the lockdown, the story was alright but not a particularly strong or interesting story.

I think Cathy is writing to some extent for an international audience - at one point she writes 'Boris Johnson, our Prime Minister' so possibly some of the lockdown detail is for the benefit of readers unfamiliar with what the UK rules were. As you say, it will be an interesting reminder in the future - and fascinating for people too young to remember it all, a bit like reading about WW2 rationing.

I’m sure I said the same on another thread about her last book. But, I had doubts about her stories being real and just even more doubts now. Surely she wouldn’t be allowed to write about such recent cases? Her latest one would have been only what - 2 years ago?

She seems to have run out of stories, I wonder if this will be her last or whether there’ll be a bigger gap than usual before the next one.

Don’t ask me why I still read them! I ask myself the same thing everytime

I’ve read a few Cathy Glass books and also seen some threads about them on here. One thing that’s always said is how ridiculously well-behaved “Adrian” and “Paula” were as kids - always doing homework when asked etc. There’s one instance where Cathy talks about “Adrian” having a messy bedroom, but that’s it.
It has to be massively exaggerated! I wonder if the real “Adrian” and “Paula” have ever read the books and gone “ha, we were never that well behaved”. I know she’s probably doing it to emphasise the difference between her kids and the foster kids, but it’s still bizarre.

Yes and "Lucy" too, once she is adopted by Cathy, now you mention it.

This is the same with Casey Watson though, her children behave impeccably even Tyler who she has as a long term foster child is a complete angel after the first book.
Have you read the Louise Allen books? She's a little more realistic about the ups and downs.

That wasn't the Donna she fostered, she's just reused the same name.

I thought she'd said it was, but perhaps I misunderstood.

I've just checked the updates on Cathy Glass' website and Donna became a nurse who married another nurse so that doesn't sound like her.