Broken Lives

A very well crafted book which gives an emotional insight into the daily dilemmas faced by Social Workers - of which the author clearly has an in-depth understanding. The characters come alive on the page as their wide range of feelings, hardships, strengths and shortcomings are illuminated. The reader will become involved in their lives, will care about their futures and need to keep turning the pages to discover the outcomes; they will be left wanting to hear more of April Gardiner.

This book cracks open the door to give an insight into the trials and tribulations faced by a social worker when dealing with a family under stress. By its very nature, a family in conflict seldom has a totally happy outcome as you might see from Hollywood or on TV. The best you can hope for, in most cases, is that maybe one of the parties has a good (or goodish) result. Compromise is generally the key. This book highlights these dilemmas and how the case-worker strives for that (probably unattainable) perfect outcome. It is well written and the characters soon draw an empathetic response from the reader: it has little gems of humour and, in contrast, some moments of pathos. It is testament to the writer's skill that I was quickly pulled into family situation and found putting the book down difficult. Indeed, at the end, I was left wanting more, - always a good sign.