Book Review - Keep your mouth shut Carolynn by Carole Lonsdale

 

Carolynn was born in nineteen-forty-four when her dad was fighting in the war. It is nineteen-forty-five when he arrives home weighing six stone. He is immediately sent to a hospital in Wales, where he has a long recovery. Aged fifteen, Carolynn leaves school to begin a three-year hairdressing apprenticeship. She gains her diploma, buys a minivan and becomes a mobile hairdresser. Carolynn marries her childhood sweetheart in nineteen-sixty-six, and the couple wants to start a family. However, Carolynn suffers a miscarriage at twelve weeks and struggles to get pregnant again. Eventually, she delivers her much-longed-for daughter Kerry.

When Kerry tries to walk, her feet turn in so much that she struggles. She has to have plaster casts for six weeks. These make no difference; Kerry can only walk using her baby walker. When she is two, she has an operation on her Achilles tendons to help untighten the muscles in her legs. Although she can now walk with built-up shoes, Kerry has many falls and spasms, and the slightest illness, even a cold, worsens them. Over the next few years, she had endless tests, including EEGs and ECGs, but all returned normal. When Kerry is five, her brother Darren is born, weighing eight pounds twelve ounces. His birth is straightforward, but he is a dark blue colour. Why is Darren born this colour? Why does Darren also have to have an operation when he is two? What is Hyperspadious? Moreover, do they ever discover what causes Carolynn's children to shake and have spasms? Read Keep your mouth shut Carolynn by Carole Lonsdale for the answers to these questions and more.

I felt for Carolynn. All she wants is for her children to be healthy and well. On one side, she has the school saying they cannot cope; on the other, she has the Dr's doing lots of tests and saying there is nothing medically wrong. Being a mother myself, I found this heartbreaking, particularly when Darren starts having spasms and uncontrollable shaking. The Dr. says he is copying his sister, and Carolynn is an over-anxious mother! Kerry and Darren are disabled, but because there is no diagnosis, Carolynn gets no help. I admired Carolynn's strength of character, supporting her children to be the best they can be in mainstream life whilst fighting for a diagnosis. I also found it very scary to read about all the mistakes made by medical professionals. For example, when Darren has an operation, and after four days, a Dr comes over and tells Carolynn he can go home tomorrow. When Carolynn says that she had been told Darren would be in hospital for at least ten days, the Dr reads his wristband and says, "Oh sorry". He had the wrong child!

I disliked that Keep your mouth shut Carolynn by Carole Lonsdale is let down badly by the lack of proofreading and editing. I found at least one error on most pages. This book needs to be correctly proofread to do it justice. Some of the sentences make no sense at all, spoiling the flow of the narrative! 

I would recommend Keep your mouth shut Carolynn by Carole Lonsdale to adults who enjoy reading true stories and biographies dealing with disabilities and the struggles had to gain a diagnosis. This book is not for the faint-hearted it is a heartbreaking story about the lives of Carolynn's family, particularly their children Kerry and Darren, and later their grandchildren. The family have so much against them, an undiagnosed medical condition, bullying, negligent medical staff, child abuse and adultery. They stay strong as a family and are always supportive of each other. 

I want to give Keep your mouth shut Carolynn by Carole Lonsdale 4 out of 5 stars. It is with sadness that I have had to reduce the score because of the lack of proofreading. I found it hard to put this book down and had a whole range of emotions while reading it sadness, horror and disbelief, but there were parts where I laughed out loud. This is a fantastic account of a courageous family!