Refracted

From a nursery school dictatorship in the Congo, to a farcical wedding to an NHS hospital in Surrey, via a seething nest of snakes and hounds, deserts and parties, my life swept me along without me ever having to take charge. Things happened TO me not because I made them happen. Then at 40 that all had to change... Unlike the plethora of memoirs available now about traumatic childhoods, dysfunctional parents and about overcoming unbearable hardships, this book is primarily a eulogy to a man who was a deeply loving and present father. It is also about his daughter's love for him and her struggle to let him go. It holds up a father who was rock-solid and dependable, by a daughter who assumed the man she married would be exactly the same. The book dwells on memories of a safe and happy life, but when it all suddenly disintegrates what direction does a girl follow and what happens when Daddy can't pick up the pieces? Humorous memories of happy times jostle with issues of pain and loss and of trying to find a new way forward.