A Victim

My book is dedicated to my Family, to my school The Godophin and Latymer where I learnt the values of JUSTICE and Truth, which have sustained me through life, to Fr. Slavko Barbaric whose dedicated life was and is an inspiration to many thousands of pilgrims

I started writing this book over 30 years ago when we moved to Leigh on Sea from London. It was written for my grandchildren and as a catharsis and explanation of the five years I spent away from my three older children due to a mental breakdown after childbirth.

The first chapters related to my childhood and family history. The evacuation to the countryside in 1939 when war broke out, A return to London and subsequent bombing We slept in air raid shelters and in the Underground and were bombed out twice This was a period of great uncertainty and anxiety and we again evacuated, this time to Newbury in 1942 ,returning eventually in 1944 to Hammersmith and to my school The Godophin and Latymer. Studying Physics, Biology and Chemistry I began to have panic attacks, and decided to leave school. Looking back on these years I can see the beginning of a severe breakdown which manifested after marriage and childbirth.

In 1952 I met my husband at night school. The chapters on John were written by him and are descriptive of life in care for a young child. He described serving in the 8th army during which time his first wife. Life had not been easy for either of us. We married in 1952 and it was after the birth of my third child in, that I had a breakdown and went into hospital. It took 5 years for me to recover during which time I had a fourth child. As I developed a fear of childbirth I stayed with my parents.

These were traumatic years and I hoped by writing my book that my children and others reading it begin to understand these problems. These problems were exacerbated by my Roman Catholic faith and my husband's conversion. Eventually I had to compromise life became more tranquil. I started to work in a local prison, then in the Old Bailey and then in VAT.

The next chapters relate to a period after retirement and problems with the Church. Through the book there is a persistent theme of my disposition to Feminism and I spent many years fighting for women's rights. On retirement I found this evident in the Church where even today women have little to say in the decision making and where there is a kind of closed shop for the clergy and hierarchy. I am a devout Roman Catholic but there should be a change in the attitude towards women and they should be given a larger part to play in Church matters.

I do hope that my book will do something to remedy this assumption that the women are there to provide catering and other social events such as cake making etc.

A VICTIM ---by BIBE