Writing this book has been a voyage of discovery, an Odyssey of the heart as much as of the mind.
(Annette Kuhn)

We will return to Annette Kuhn’s work later, particularly when we explore the thorny subject of memory. For now, it is enough to say that her description of writing her memoir describes beautifully our experience as we have worked on this book project over the last four years. When Bob (a former children’s home resident) emailed Viv (a former social worker) in 2021, we had no idea that this would be the beginning of a voyage of discovery for all four contributors to this book (including Rose and Doug, also former children’s home residents). Nor did we expect that there would be so much learning in it for all of us. What we present here is therefore a summation of what we have individually and collectively learned along the way, fully aware that our voyage of discovery will never be finished, because, when all is said and done, clichéd as this might be, it is the journey of life, in all its messiness, uncertainty and contradictions.