Parcels in the Post: Growing Up With Fifty Siblings

Fiona Neary and her family move back from England to the family farm in the early 1980s. Her mother decides to take in foster children, which will change their lives. Over the next decade, a procession of faces passes through the house, each with their own story. The foster system is chaotic, with judges' decisions altering a child's life, emergency placements breaking up siblings, and the foster family often left in the dark with little back-up.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 232 pages
Publication date: 03 May 2024
Publisher: New Island Books

Welcome to the house of fun!

It's the early 1980s, and Fiona Neary and her family have recently moved back from England to the family farm. Fiona's huge-hearted mum decides to take in foster children – a decision that will change all their lives.

Over the next decade, a procession of faces passes through the house. Every child has their own story, and each story claims a little piece of Fiona's heart. Some stay a few weeks; some months, and then years. All these children, as well as Fiona and her family, must pass through a chaotic system: where a judge's decision can alter a child's life, for better or worse; where emergency placements can break up siblings; where the foster family is often left in the dark and with little back-up.

Filled with pathos and humor, Parcels in the Post is both a memoir of a loving household and a snapshot of the fostering system in Ireland, from someone at the very heart of it all.

Weight: 268g
Dimension: 137 x 216 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781848409262