Letting Go

The first day of school is a momentous occasion for any mother. This book is about that emotional moment in every mother's life when she has to let go of her offspring. A time when her child moves on, making her no longer the focus of their universe. Three mothers feature in this story. The intelligent, academic single mother lives in the poorer part of the village with her mixed-race daughter. She is aware of the conflicting years ahead, the mistakes she's made and the hope she has left. The mother from a middle-class background is beset with worries about her son. She is frightened of losing him and school for her is nothing but trauma. The third mother is more affluent and realistic, accepting, albeit with a certain reluctance, that school is inevitable. The book covers the three hours leading up to the children starting school. The characters are expanded in a series of flashbacks, showing how each one has arrived at this morning, and then follows them as they eventually meet each other in the school playground.