A story to build resilience through love and encouragement
A book for mothers who’ve escaped an abusive relationship and need to explain to their children why they aren’t seeing their dad right now.
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Available to buy from your favourite online retailers, as an ebook, kindle, or paperback.
My Story
I’m a survivor, and now thriver, of an emotionally abusive relationship. Once I‘d made the decision to leave, I fled our home with my 2 1/2 year old son and what I could fit into my parent’s car.
I was uncomfortable about the mental health of my son’s father. I couldn’t trust that he would be safe in his care and was only comfortable with supervised care until my ex got the help he so badly needed.
My ex decided to walk away despite my efforts to encourage a relationship between them, and has had no contact with our son since.
How the book came about
During this time I had the help of many key professionals who helped me put myself back together one piece at a time. Whilst this was happening, I was very conscious of my son and concerned about the impact of the sudden disappearance of his father. How would it affect him? As he got older, how would I explain?
I didn’t want to ever speak poorly of his dad, but at the same time I needed to be as honest with him as I could. I was also very aware of the fact that young children often blame themselves, thinking the breakdown of their parent’s relationship is because of something they’ve said or done. So, I started searching for a story book to help me explain the fact that his dad was no longer here. I searched and searched but all I could find were books about death or divorce. I couldn’t find a book for our situation.
I spoke to my psychologist at the time, I spoke to Maggie Dent when I attended one of her sessions, I read books on emotional intelligence and emotional resilience, and I developed a way to explain to him why his dad was no longer there. Then I wrote a poem. And now I’ve turned that poem into a children’s book – with the help of beautiful illustrations from Jacinta. I hope this book will help women who find themselves in a similar position to where I was all those years ago, with a little person they’d do anything to protect. I hope this helps navigate the situation which is sad and difficult by recognising the loss through story, it gives the child and the family the opportunity to focus on the positive, so the child grows to focus on the great love that surrounds them.
The name of the author has been changed due to legal reasons and will remain private however the story is based on real life events.
Please keep in mind that I am not a mental health professional or a lawyer and all the information on this website is information that I have researched or experienced personally. It is by no means a substitute for getting legal advice or advice from a professional psychologist.
What People Are Saying
“It’s beautiful. It makes me want to cry! I love how you explain it and the reassurance in it too. I’ll need to get my signed copy before it costs too much!”
— Sarah Border, Teacher
“Zoe!! It’s absolutely BEAUTIFUL and made me tear up. Well bloody done! What a difference this will make! I’m so excited!“
— Julia Hasche, founder of Single Mother Survival Guide
“This book is so incredibly important! As the child of domestic abuse household, this kind of material would have gone a long way with helping our family communicate to the young children in my family.”
