A Life Lost. Cathy Glass
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Certain details in this story, including names, places and dates, have been changed to protect the family’s privacy.
HarperElement
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First published by HarperElement 2021
FIRST EDITION
© Cathy Glass 2021
Cover design Claire Ward © HarperCollinsPublishers 2021
Cover photograph © Kelly Sillaste/Trevillion Images (posed by a model)
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
Cathy Glass asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
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Source ISBN: 9780008436612
Ebook Edition © February 2021 ISBN: 9780008436629
Version: 2021-01-19
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Page numbers taken from the following print edition: ISBN 9780008436612
A big thank you to my family; my editors, Kelly and Holly; my literary agent, Andrew; my UK publisher HarperCollins; and my overseas publishers, who are now too numerous to list by name. Last, but definitely not least, a big thank you to my readers for your unfailing support and kind words. They are much appreciated.
‘For life and death are one,
even as the river and the sea are one.’
Kahlil Gibran
Contents
1 Cover
2 Title Page
3 Copyright
4 Note to Readers
5 Acknowledgements
6 Epigraph
7 Contents
8 Chapter One: A Difficult Start
9 Chapter Two: Tragic
10 Chapter Three: Jackson
11 Chapter Four: Get Into Trouble
12 Chapter Five: A New Day
13 Chapter Six: A Mixed Weekend
14 Chapter Seven: Challenging Behaviour
15 Chapter Eight: On Tenterhooks
16 Chapter Nine: Hard Work
17 Chapter Ten: Another Difficult Evening
18 Chapter Eleven: The Blink of an Eye
19 Chapter Twelve: Abused
20 Chapter Thirteen: Evil
21 Chapter Fourteen: Confused and Upset
22 Chapter Fifteen: Say Goodbye to Mummy
23 Chapter Sixteen: A Long Day
24 Chapter Seventeen: Back at Square One
25 Chapter Eighteen: Decision
26 Chapter Nineteen: Are We Going to Prison?
27 Chapter Twenty: A Worrying Wait
28 Chapter Twenty-One: The Reason I Foster
29 Chapter Twenty-Two: Life After
30 Chapter Twenty-Three: Two Children, Different Needs
31 Chapter Twenty-Four: Because I Didn’t Tell …
32 Chapter Twenty-Five: Another Hurdle Overcome
33 Chapter Twenty-Six: Incident
34 Chapter Twenty-Seven: Connor
35 Chapter Twenty-Eight: Going Home
36 Chapter Twenty-Nine: A Life Lost
37 Suggested topics for reading-group discussion
38 Cathy Glass
39 Moving Memoirs
40 Praise for Cathy Glass
41 About the Publisher
LandmarksCoverFrontmatterStart of ContentBackmatter