Breaking Point by Edel Coffey
An extremely hard and emotional book to read about Susannah, aka Dr Sue, a paediatric doctor who is this parenting guru and probably considered by many as too perfect. She accidentally leaves her six month old baby girl in the car and she dies. What follows is harrowing and heartbreakingly sad, as this poor woman struggles to cope with her guilt and grief, whilst being hounded by the media and public, vilifying her as the worse parent ever and then she is actually taken to court over it. They try to make out that she put her job before her child and chose to leave her daughter in the car initially.
It is a horrendous court case and I hated the lawyer, to use Susannah’s obvious pain and tragedy and call her out as not caring or even to want her daughter in the first place.
The other main character is Adelaide, a reporter covering the story who has a tragic history with Dr Sue, a tragedy that is equally as harrowing. Will it bring these two women together or apart?
As horrific as the story was, it was very gripping and I devoured it, it is thought provoking and so relatable to many parents, those who have made mistakes, those who have nearly, those who have struggled and all the rest who worry about the heart-breaking things that can happen to babies and children in the blink of an eye.
Submitted by Stephanie
