Former Stroud journalist Carole Taylor has just had her first book published.
‘Perfectly Imperfect (The Story of the Two Js)’ is a novel about unmarried mothers, illegitimacy and adoption in the 1960s.
It tells the story of inseparable friends Juliet and June – known as ‘The Two Js’ – who meet at school aged five, but grow up to lead very different lives.
June marries a wealthy man she doesn’t love to get away from her parents, whose 18th birthday gift to her was telling her she was adopted. Juliet goes to Italy and falls in love with a handsome Italian.
Returning home she discovers she is pregnant and becomes an unmarried mother – a sin of enormous proportions in the 1960s – forced to have her infant daughter adopted.
The two women’s intertwined lives delve into the intricacies of human relationships, love and the enduring power of friendship.
‘Perfectly Imperfect considers the complexities of life’s choices and their repercussions, reminding us that a decision to do or not to do something can change everything.
“This book is fiction based on fact,” says Carole, who writes under the name of C J Taylor and now lives in Gloucester.
“I was an unmarried mum in the 60s, forced to have my daughter adopted, and my experience of illegitimacy, adoption and the enormous social and religious problems surrounding them, has been woven into to this book together with the stories of other women who had similar experiences.
“I hope this book reflects an extraordinary time in women’s recent history when so much heartbreak was caused by the whims of a puritanical society and in the name of religion.”
‘Perfectly Imperfect (The Story of the Two Js)’ is available in paperback on Amazon (£12) and also on Kindle (£3.99).
