Somebody to Love
Donna is a single mum and even though her philandering ex-husband is exactly that - her ex, he seems to think that he can still bully her and control what she does and doesn't do in her life. They share a son and he is forever letting his own son down, not turning up for things he has promised and disappointing him. Donna find it quite easy to insult her husband's new partner in a way that we probably would all like to but wouldn't dare, and you can't help but titter at the put-downs that come out of her mouth. When she meets Mark, who is also a single parent and works in the police force, even though they make a real impression upon each other, and both would like their relationship to flourish, they are both extremely wary especially Mark, who is keeping the fact that his son Karl is autistic, away from Donna as he doesn't want it to affect their relationship and doesn't want her to run a mile when she finds out. What he doesn't realise is that Donna actually volunteers at the centre that Karl goes to, as the one thing that she really wants to do in her life is to retrain as a helper with children with disabilties and difficulties. They constantly send mixed messages to each other, and are on completely different wavelengths a lot of the time, but deep down, they both feel that they would be great for each other and are falling in love. Karl finds it difficult to relate to people, so when he is given a "friend" who is trained to help him through his day to day issues, he develops more as a person and overcomes some of the biggest hurdles he's ever had experienced making him feel that he fits into an easier way of life.
I had read a book by this particular author Sheryl Browne before and loved it, but I do think that because of the underlying topic of this one, it really stuck with me and massively raised my awareness of a topic which loads of people live with daily . Having not experienced anyone in my life who is autistic, I was really quite ignorant towards it and I felt that allowing people to learn about it in a relaxed, enjoyable way, was truly a special quality that this writer has brought to a book and can only help both the people who are autistic and their families be understood by ignorant people who actually don't mean to be ignorant, it's just that they don't know about the topic
I also learned about Autism Assistance Dogs which was really quite an unbelievable topic to read about. It's where the person who has autism has a specially trained dog live with them to help them through the day to day issues of living with autism. I had never heard of this magnificent work, so again brought it to my attention and I have since talked to a number of people about them and how they can help.
In all, this book is a hilarious comedy romance with an autistic child as one of the main characters and the heart of the story. Sheryl Browne is a fabulous author who makes you constantly laugh out loud, with depth and heart in her stories. Her characters are beautifully created, genuine and sincere and through reading, they become your friends. Reading a Sheryl Browne book is a breath of fresh air, thoroughly enjoyable, with lots of giggles along the way and the pages turn themselves effortlessly.
by Kim Nash