UNKNOWN

Mental health was not something you talked about openly in the 1960s, but Lesley Hughes was determined to beat the anxiety that plagued her. She longed for a purpose, a stable relationship, and a family – but all were elusive. The author was born in a small town on the Welsh border, but a move to the Home Counties and a subsequent separation from her peers at school contributed to an early sense of unbelonging that persisted through much of her adult life. This led her, at twenty-five, to admit herself to a once notorious mental hospital, where she spent long, listless months, hoping for something to change. But it was here that she began to see that the answer to her problem lay within herself.

Lesley’s empathy for those unlike ‘everyone else’ – the immigrants, the displaced, the lonely or the lost – led her into a series of unique relationships. Yet she still could not quite manage to find herself, that is until the day that she met Mr Fox. This maverick solicitor placed a value on Lesley that she had not been able to place on herself. His belief in her encouraged Lesley along the road to self-discovery and self-acceptance.

The qualities of compassion, understanding and lack of judgement of others that she found within herself would lead Lesley to a rich life, with a successful career in family law, a happy marriage and, ultimately, to a level of peace and understanding of which many only dream. Lesley’s subsequent resilience in remaining authentic and true to her real nature through the rest of her life will be an inspiration to the many who struggle with having to mould themselves to others’ expectations.

Born on the borders of England and Wales in 1943, Lesley was, from an early age, led by a burgeoning passion for the underdog, the unfortunate and the displaced. She took a social science degree at Birmingham University, specialising in the African diaspora. Moving to North London's trendy Crouch End in the late sixties, rather than embrace the excitement of the age, she looked on from the side lines, a dreamer, deep in thought. The roads to life, love and career were blighted by an unexplained anxiety that led her to admit herself to the once notorious Bethlem mental hospital for several months. Despite being denied the treatment for which she had hoped, it was here that Lesley began her metamorphosis into the strong, capable woman she remains, still in demand in a range of voluntary mentoring and legal roles, despite being in her eighties. Her highly successful professional life began almost by accident when a day's work as a temporary typist turned into a career in general litigation, eventually specialising in family law, and as a partner in a Holborn law firm. Whilst family has always been important to her, Lesley was, sadly, unable to have children. Today, widowed for seven years after a happy twenty-three-year marriage to Alistair, she lives in leafy Chiswick, loved and supported by children, friends and people who regard her as family and to whom she is Mummy, Mum or Grandma. Coming to creative writing in recent years, she now spends many hours each week involved in online classes, writing poetry and reflective essays.The church is an important part of her life, and she has become course chaplain for The Diocese of London Christian Studies course.