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Cara - a hope & a future

Author:	Rhona J Tolchard
Published By:	IVP (Nottingham)
Pages:	192
Price:	£7.99
ISBN:	978 1 84474 430 5

Reviewed by Ursula Franklin.

Cara was born with brain damage - a much longed-for child, arousing in her parents a drive to challenge and fight for her to have a fair chance in life.  Gradually Cara adapted to the world. She was an epileptic. Her condition was heart-rending for her parents, but they watched her and appreciated her character as it developed.  The parents’ reaction to Cara's condition was strong; they  used all their energy looking for fairness and social justice for her as she lived her nine and a half years. They were consumed by this demanding role of being 'on duty' 24 hours a day.

It is an amazing story of courage and fortitude; at times, blinded by their love and grief, Cara’s parents were intransigent and belligerent, so wounding others and themselves further. They were very 'real' about Clara's needs and health.  However, they seem to me to have been less real about the damaging effect of Cara's health on their personalities and relationships.  Sharing the personal hurt with their good friends would have lessened the strain of bridled anger and the overwhelming sense of injustice. God's grace often comes to us through honestly sharing with friends. I found too their reliance on Scripture a little strange - it seems to me to have been applied like sticking plaster to deep bleeding wounds.

This is a book that I would find difficult to share with other parents in the throes of such a situation.