A Subject Close to My Heart by Betty Rose

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On 10th October 2020, people around the world will mark World Homeless Day in many varied ways in an effort to change the lives of homeless people in their community.
 
Keep them Close was inspired by a walk through my city centre one late November afternoon. I was devastated to see so many young homeless people sleeping out in the middle of the shopping centre on the cold pavements. On returning home I was determined to ask questions, not  able to let it be. I scoured the local papers, the internet, local charities, talked to family and friends; I was on a mission. On returning to the city centre the following week, the same faces were still their, pinched with cold and so very down caste.  I stood them a meal, and with those who wanted some company, I shared a table. Their stories were varied and at the same time, similar. Low wages, shame, family breakdown.
 
Inspired by their loneliness and vulnerability, Keep Them Close was born; a story of sadness and unexpected joy. The story is pure fiction- characters-situations, which I invented to embrace some of the present day issues which we, or our loved ones, can find ourselves in.  
 
My twenty plus years working as a registered mental health nurse opened me up to the troubles one can find oneself in when family support networks break down. I hope my story will entertain, but also prompt a challenge to question any personal and culturally acquired preconceptions. The fact that I’m now retired certainly  hasn’t dulled my need to help others.
 
Keep Them Close, an adult contemporary family saga/romance will hopefully break down in part the stigma of homelessness in the UK in 2020.
 
My second novel, Keep Them Close follows a family saga intertwined with a powerful love story between Irish born Robina, adored and protected, and Moses, of Jamaican descent who has a past steeped in rejection and betrayal. The story follows four generations, beginning in rural Ireland and moving on to Liverpool UK. It addresses the many challenges each generation encounters- from religion, immigration and racism to mental health, drug use and homelessness—whilst acknowledging the love and close family bonds that keep them together, and the cultural pressures and conflicts that drive them apart.
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Betty Rose, retired nurse now author, lives in Coventry and is a mother and grandmother, Her first novelette, “A Week in Time”, a WW2 Homefront story, was self published on amazon in 2017.
 
“ Keep Them Close” was published 30th January2020, and is available in paperback and e book, from Pegasus Publishers www.pegasuspublishers.com as well as Amazon, Waterstones, Goodreads and other on line sites.