Remembering the Raspberries

Janet Robbins has the perfect life, or so she thought. She has the best job ever as a stay-at-home mom. She keeps extremely busy with her children, Sarah and Michael, chauffeuring them to school and activities, volunteering in their classrooms and school, and helping them with homework. Her children tell her she is the best mom ever. Janet runs the household without her husband Brad's help, as he is a busy school executive. She meticulously irons and coordinates his clothes and keeps him on schedule. Janet is supportive to Brad in every way imaginable with his demanding career. She slips into the world of a single parent without realizing it while she sees less and less of her husband.

Her world turns upside down when Brad suddenly moves out during a slumber party. Janet realizes there is so much more to the story as Brad's three-year affair with a coworker comes to light, and they both lose their jobs. Brad is not willing to take the blame for his job loss and takes it out on Janet.

Brad's true colors come to light as his true narcissistic side shows. He is unhappy when Janet is ordered sole custody of the children and vows to take them from her. He and his vindictive girlfriend, Suzanne, plan and plot ways to push Janet over the edge to take away the children to punish her for their job loss.

Brad and Suzanne eventually marry and continue to harass Janet in unimaginable ways. Janet is strong and weathers many attacks but cannot compete financially with her ex-husband and his wife. Remembering the Raspberries is a tale of parental alienation and how it broke up a mother's relationship with her children. How long can Janet keep the faith?

Laura Lee Royale is a South Dakota native from the Black Hills. Her first book, The Blueberry Patch, explores two bipolar patients and the different ways they handle their illness. Remembering the Raspberries is the sequel to The Blueberry Patch and continues Janet Robbins's struggles with bipolar disorder through a difficult divorce. She loves writing and served as the editor of her school newspaper two years in high school. Laura was selected as one of eleven South Dakota journalists named to Journalism City/Girls State her junior year of high school. Laura was a reporter and freelance writer in South Dakota and Colorado and started a community newspaper in Colorado.