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Raising Turnip: Candid and comical memoirs of a single adopter
£7.60
This book is an unprocessed and insightful memoir of an adoptive mother in her forties, candidly sharing her personal experiences about adopting a 6-year-old boy, and their first five years together. A truly compassionate and genuine account of the joys and trials of single motherhood and of raising a little boy and his stand-in persona, Turnip. The author’s natural ability to mother and her ingenious improvisational skills are meritable. It’s such an honest account of, well, life and how things sometimes go according to plan, and how they occasionally don’t. A riveting page-turner that will make you laugh, wonder and be filled with admiration. The conversational tone, and the author’s readiness to share generously prevail throughout the book. A must read for all parents, not just the ones who have adopted, are adopting or are thinking of adopting.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Independent publishing network (19 July 2019) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 145 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1789724929 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1789724929 |
| Reading age | 6 years and up |
| Dimensions | 12.7 x 0.84 x 20.32 cm |
by shellylou
I should start this review by saying it’s been a long long time since I’ve read a book! However this was delivered to me less than two hours ago and now here I am writing a review.
A candid, funny and thought provoking read of the daily life of a single adoptive mum. It made me smile, it made me sad and I’m not ashamed to say it made me cry too.
The story of Freddie’s adoption and his life since is not one to be missed.
by The Handmaid
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. What a lovely heart warming encounter on how a boy meets world. A world that he can look back on when he is a man and be grateful that fate brought them together. It always captivates me, when I can read about someone having such a loving, caring, close family and a bunch of great supportive friends. I could feel the love oozing from the writer when she talks about them so fondly. I really admire her for taking on such a challenging task and describing it to us with such truth and honesty. I wish Florence and Turnip all the luck in the world on there continued adventure together. I will look forward to reading the next chapter.
by Amazon Customer
From beginning to end this book will take you through the whole gamut of human emotions. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry; it will raise your hopes, and leave you in despair; frustration will turn to amazement as you see how this single mother in her forties tackles the joys and sorrows of raising her six-year-old adopted son.
Her ingenuity in turning problems into solutions will take your breath away. You can’t miss this, it’s a must read.
BrendaO
by Kate Newsham
This was a super easy and quick read with lots of laugh out loud moments! I’m a prospective single adopter, and although I enjoyed the book, it didn’t really tell me anything new, give me a different perspective or challenge my views of adoption. I work with a lot of looked after children, and I long for my future child to be as well behaved and adjusted as Freddie!
by Reader
An adoption memoir I enjoyed reading – some great laugh out loud moments as well as a realistic picture of the tough times when you adopt as a solo parent.
by Gail and Andrew Robinson
I enjoyed reading this book. I liked the literary style and the humour. Just as I was beginning to enjoy it the story took a dip. I know the story had to end somewhere but I felt the ending was a little disappointing. There are several grammatical/spelling errors for future references: page 77 last line- there’s a word missing and page 131 2nd paragraph, 2nd line- should be the verb practise.
As a teacher I did take offence a little at Florence ( when reading about the review of TA hours to work with Freddie) at the suggestion that a TA is encouraged to keep their hours for the sake of the teacher! The safety and well being of every child is paramount to every teacher. When a child shows inappropriate behaviour and demands attention it is essential that an adult is available to attend to their needs. A teacher cannot simply ignore the other 30+ children they have in the classroom to do this. If they have a TA however this situation is made easier to deal with. Florence I hope you appreciate this comment as you wrote several times about how demanding Freddie was with you one to one.
by NICHOLE DUNCAN
I really loved this story about a single adopter and her journey to finding her missing piece. Warm, funny, sad in parts but ultimately uplifting, Flo and Freddie were destined for each other, that’s clear. I’m hoping there’ll be a part 2 in the future, taking us through the next stage in Freddie’s life and the challenges they encounter as he makes his way through secondary school. That would be a lovely addition to this beautiful tale
by Amazon Customer
The personality and warmth of the author shine through in a deeply personal and uplifting account of her life changing adoption journey.
There are laugh out loud funny recollections interspersed with touching moments which give a real feeling of the joy, challenges and laughter experienced along the way. It’s a story which captures the emotional highs and lows of what is undoubtably a difficult process and shows that love and a sense of humour will help you through most things.
You come away with a sense of two amazing people (and a great supporting cast), in Florence and Freddie, who are incredibly lucky to have found each other and you can’t help falling a little bit in love with. A great read that I would highly recommend.