Day My Parents Ran Away, The

When dad gets his Deputy Headship life should have become even better for Sarah’s family. But Dad’s nervous breakdown through overwork spreads like a virus through the entire family. Mum takes to the bottle, Hatty starts stealing, Iona needs to go back into nappies. By the end of the year the children are in despair and crisis as their parents have disappeared, leaving their stressed 14 year old to cope with her two younger sisters. This is a family breakdown too. This novel avoids being formulaic. It is not a comfortable read; it is a moving, truthful study of a current, isolating social problem, which will leave the reader wiser and definitely sympathetic.