Paul’s Story: A Son’s Struggle with Adoption, Schizophrenia and the Mental Health System

“Mental illness? Who wants to read about that?” Despite one in four people experiencing mental ill health in their lifetime, it is not a popular topic for conversation.  Perhaps this book will change that!

Combining amusing anecdotes, insights from research and heart-rending personal reflections, this book recounts the triumphs, traumas, and tragedies of the life of Paul – adopted child, loved son and brother, schizophrenia sufferer – and of his family. Excerpts from Paul’s own journals and reflections from his family, highlight the ups and downs of Paul’s life. These include his struggle with having been relinquished for adoption, his difficulty accepting the diagnosis of schizophrenia, and the inconsistent and patchwork approach to support for people with mental ill health and underline the tragic waste of human possibility resulting from inadequate mental health care.

An absorbing, poignant and powerful read, this chronicling of Paul’s life and experiences and its impact on his family is incredibly emotive, tackling some difficult subjects with honesty, compassion, and humour. The personable writing style makes this work accessible to a wide audience and the sustained analysis and discussion relating to the need for a higher standard of care and improvements in the mental health system makes the work compelling. Ultimately, it is a heartfelt piece that raises important suggestions for society today.

Passive Conflict

Born on the serene island of Jersey, Irene Camus Smith’s life took an unexpected turn as the shadows of war descended upon her homeland. The Channel Islands, Britain’s oldest possessions, faced the threat of Hitler’s invasion during World War II. When the islands were demilitarized and left defenceless, German forces swiftly occupied them for five arduous years, marking Hitler’s triumph of setting foot on British soil after centuries.

The Channel Islanders endured unimaginable hardships under occupation, particularly during the siege that followed the Allied invasion of Normandy. Facing starvation and struggling to survive, their resilience was tested to the core. Among the countless stories of struggle, Irene’s family narrative unfolds, capturing the essence of the islanders’ collective experience.

Through their journey, we witness the strength of the human spirit amid adversity, as bonds are tested, and sacrifices made. In this poignant tale of survival and hope, Irene Camus Smith’s remarkable story stands as a testament to the unwavering resilience of the Channel Islanders during one of history’s darkest chapters.

Part of the Family

An inspiring story of one family’s journey through the British care system, from the point of view of a foster carer. It tells of the funny, challenging, and often harrowing times of living life in an ever-changing household of temporary children.

Steering a course through the muddy waters of the care system has provided many obstacles but has overall proved to be a rewarding and heart-warming experience for the author.

Children who find themselves removed from their birth families are thrust into a system which, although trying its best, is so often lacking in the love and good quality nurturing they deserve.

As a society, we need to look at the way we deal with vulnerable children.

Painting the Mosque for Christmas?

This is the story of one person. An errand boy, junior artist, car washer, cub, scout, choirboy, glass runner, wine waiter, postman, tomato plant and faggot stripper, potato picker, life guard, scout leader, canoe instructor, teacher, cattle rancher, polo player, forest and sawmill manager, head of English, logger, general manager, managing director, importer, exporter, businessman, outdoor pursuits instructor, fund raiser, headmaster, principal, CEO, school founder, advisor and appraiser, mentor, model, poet, playwright, writer and actor in the UK and many countries of Central, Southern and Western Africa through good times and bad.

The author deals sympathetically with the nostalgia of a post-war childhood in Bristol, detailing with many of the joys and problems of childhood before leaping into adulthood with entertaining narrative and dialogue.

Africa takes hold with many incidents and observations backed by humour and acute observations of post-colonial developments. Life was never dull and he has sat on crocodiles and slept with lions as well as experiencing coups and unrest where some humour can still be found. He has met royalty and personalities from a wide mixture of society and has also been a friend of presidents and heads of state – herein lies a tantalising mix of European and African life in a kaleidoscopic presentation of humour, pathos, seriousness and shrewd observation.

Pages in a life

Pages in a Life charts the encounters in courtrooms, council chambers and sports fields that helped to start a young journalist’s career. His journey reflects his work in a vibrant and lively town in the Nottinghamshire coalfield and a path filled with laughs and surprises, taking in everything from the cricket star Harold Larwood to the notorious ‘Black Panther’ Donald Neilson.

P.O.S.H. Portside Out – Starboard Home My Life Story

The liner on the cover is the Empress of Scotland, the flagship of the Canadian Pacific Steamships, known as CPR, a very elegant liner. 

In the year of 1951 at the age of eighteen I was one of the three officer’s stewards on board the liner. That same year Princess Elizabeth and her husband Prince Phillip had completed a tour of Canada and America. The princess was returning to England for her coronation which was taking place on the 2nd June 1953.

In her party were five Canadian Mounted Police. Throughout the seven day voyage, the princess and duke spent every day on the bridge deck of the liner in the company of the ship’s captain and officers. One of my duties was to serve beverages to the princess, the duke and the officers. I was eighteen years of age.

Our Oil - the Man and the Challenges

Farouk Al-Kasim has been called the "Iraqi who saved Norway from oil", and the "greatest value creator in Norway ever." (Financial Times).When he was 16 years old, he was sent to London to study geology. He met a girl from Norway, and they married. Under dramatic circumstances the family had to run away from Iraq, and Farouk became the key man in Norwegian oil administration.He has travelled worldwide to encourage other countries to secure oil and gas for the benefit of the country and its people.

Our Mothers Ourselves

In a world shaken by the great upheavals of World War and the collapse of Empire, six women from different corners of the world transcend the constraints of their different backgrounds. Their physical and emotional migrations open the way to personal journeys which redefine them and enable their daughters to live lives of greater personal freedom and fulfillment.  This book tells the stories of our mothers, six ordinary women who undertook extraordinary journeys. It is a tribute and an expression of love.  

Our Mothers

This book contains a collection of stories written by a group of friends who met during school and university days. Rarely celebrated, these short stories are about their mothers. While these women were from different backgrounds and some were born, or lived their early lives, in different countries, they shared some things in common. They were British by either birth or ancestry. They were middle class and they were young mothers during the latter part of World War 2, or shortly thereafter. They lived in Canberra during the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s – longer in some cases – and contributed to the social life of the growing city in a variety of ways.

Otto Papesch

Otto Papesch was my father. I was four years old when he died. I asked myself for years what kind of a human being he was. I have attempted to paint a picture of that handsome, charismatic, cultivated, professional chemical engineer, enthusiastic sportsman, photographer and family man by basing myself on the vast correspondence that still exists, his diary of 1917, stories about him from my mother and grandparents and the innumerable photos he took over the years. This has been an attempt to describe his prominent characteristics but also shed light on his dilemmas and the contradictions in his personality and thereby to describe the important events of his short life. Would his destiny have been different had he been born a year later?

Only a Yorkshire Lass

Only a Yorkshire Lass is an account of a woman born in South Yorkshire in the 1950s. It follows her life from birth to her late fifties, events which occur in her hometown and in many other countries of the world. It details the high and low points of her life, the people she has met and the people who shaped her destiny for better or worse. It is a story full of emotion, joy, happiness, sadness, anger, hope and despair. It keeps the reader wondering and waiting for the next chapter and what will the outcome be. It also forces the reader to look at their own life and both sympathise and empathise with the writer’s different situations.

In parts, it is humorous and will bring a smile to the reader’s face and in others, one can’t help but shed a tear for the writer.

It is a book that will appeal as there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

One-Way Ticket to Honolulu

Should you follow your intuition in your darkest hour?

Anette is 32 and living an expat life in Hong Kong with her husband, Phil. The world seems to lie at her feet. But when Phil dies tragically, her world stops.

Sitting on the floor at their Hong Kong apartment, surrounded by all their stuff, Anette is asked by his company where to send all her belongings. And the only thought she has is that they should send it all to Honolulu.