When the bough breaks - part 2

Yes I've finished it and pretty harrowing reading it was too. I'm glad I did read it even though I am not at all maternal myself. I think she's a very courageous lady and cannot agree with India Knight in the Sunday Times that she was selfish in giving up her severely brain damaged baby. Julia Hollander knew she didn't have what it takes to give up her life 24/7 to a child, to the detriment of her other daughter and her then partner, now her husband. She had lots of misgivings about it and went through hell before everything was settled. The stupidity of our current set up for helping disabled people meant that Imogen's foster carer would always get more financial help and practical support than Julia would as the child's mother. Julia and her family always see Imogen every fortnight and will continue to do so and she seems to be very much part of the family. It seems to me that Imogen ended up in the best possible situation for her - with someone who has the abilities to look after her without resenting the sacrifice. Such a sacrifice has to be willingly made or not made at all in my opinion.

I have just spent all morning cleaning the car - it was disgusting! I even had to wash it twice before it looked ok - and I'm no perfectionist! What's more it's got some special coating on it that's supposed to make it easier to clean. It doesn't. I am very pleased that we didn't pay the dealer to put the coating on at £200! Instead we found out where to get the stuff to do it with and did it ourselves - following all the instructions. It's supposed to mean that you only need to polish your car once every three years - not true. I've polished it today because it needed it and it's only been on there 6 months!

I have just started reading Petite Anglaise by Catherine Sanderson - another book that arose out of a blog - looks like compulsive reading so far.

When the bough breaks

'When the Bough Breaks' by Julia Hollander has been in the media recently. India Knight was so scathing of her that I felt I had to give the lady a chance and read her story in her own words. Briefly she and her partner had one child and she became pregnant with a second. All went well apart from some minor problems until she started in labour. Imogen was born with severe brain damage. I've got just over half way through the book and it's not clear at the moment whether the damage is due to the problems at birth or whether she would have had the damage anyway. From the publicity about this case I already know she later abandoned the child because she simply could not cope with having to care for her 24/7. I can understand where she's coming from as I am sure I couldn't have looked after such a child. Not everyone is able to make such sacrifices, and it must be far better to recognise this and act accordingly. She doesn't come over as a terribly likeable character but I admire her honesty. I see nothing wrong with her making money out of her story either. She has committed no crime by giving up the child.

Why is everyone so against Delia Smith? Her new book and TV series is not meant for experienced cooks, but for those who have decided they don't want ready meals all the time. You can mix and match ingredients anyway and it's also a useful book for anyone in a hurry -provided they use the book as a shopping list to stock up their store cupboards. Hands off Delia - if you like to mill your own wheat don't buy this book. If you're an ordinary person - even of you know how to cook - buy it for the times when you've a meal to cook but you don't have the inclination. One thing you can be sure of is that if it's Delia it'll be easy to follow and taste good. There are far too many food snobs around in my opinion who live to cook rather than cook to live.