Cruel To Be Kind is the true story of Max, aged 6. He is fostered by Cathy while his mother is in hospital with complications from type 2 diabetes. Fostering Max gets off to a bad start when his mother, Caz, complains and threatens Cathy even before Max has moved in. Cathy and her family are shocked when they first meet Max. But his social worker isn't the only one in denial; his whole family are too.

Damian longs for home, but one man stands in his way … Damian is just seven when he is taken in by foster carer Cathy Glass. His mother, Rachel, loves her three young children dearly, but she is vulnerable, naive and unable to cope on her own. Cathy sets about helping Damian overcome his eating issues, with the hope that he will eventually return home. But when Rachel’s new boyfriend, Troy, arrives on the scene, Cathy becomes deeply concerned. She soon realises that Damian and his siblings are in great danger …

The true story of 2 year-old Anna, abandoned by her natural parents, left alone in a neglected orphanage. Elaine and Ian had travelled half way round the world to adopt little Anna. She couldn't have been more wanted, loved and cherished. So why was she now in foster care and living with me? It didn't make sense. Until I learned what had happened. ... Dressed only in nappies and ragged T-shirts the children were incarcerated in their cots. Their large eyes stared out blankly from emaciated faces. Some were obviously disabled, others not, but all were badly undernourished. Flies circled around the broken ceiling fans and buzzed against the grids covering the windows. The only toys were a few balls and a handful of building bricks, but no child played with them. The silence was deafening and unnatural. Not one of the thirty or so infants cried, let alone spoke.

A new memoir from Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author Cathy Glass.

When Cathy receives a call about a terminally ill widower terrified of leaving his son all alone in the world, she is wracked with sadness and indecision. Can she risk exposing her own young children to a little boy on the brink of bereavement?

Eight year old Michael is part of a family of two, but with his beloved father given only months to live and his mother having died when he was a toddler, he could soon become an orphan. Will Cathy s own young family be able to handle a child in mourning? To Cathy s surprise, her children insist that this boy deserves to be as happy as they are, prompting Cathy to welcome Michael into her home.

A cheerful and carefree new member of the family, Michael devotedly prays every night, believing that when the time is right, angels will come and take his Daddy to be with his Mummy in heaven. However, incredibly, in the weeks that pass, the bond between Cathy s family, Michael and his kind and loving father Patrick grows. Even more promising, Patrick is looking healthier than he s done in weeks.

But just as they are settling into a routine of blissful normality, an unexpected and disastrous event shatters the happy group, shaking Cathy to the core. Cathy can only hope that her family and Michael s admirable faith will keep him strong enough to rebuild his life."

Little Jamey, 21/2 years old, is placed with experienced foster carer, Cathy Glass, as an emergency. The police and social services have no choice but to remove two-year-old Jamey from home after his mother leaves him alone all night to go out partying. When he first arrives with foster carer Cathy Glass, he is scared, hungry and withdrawn, craving the affection he has been denied for so long. He is small for his age and unsteady on his feet - a result of being left for long periods in his cot. Cathy and her family find Jamey very easy to love, but as he settles in and makes progress, a new threat emerges. Coronavirus and lockdown change everything.

I m going to love my baby and give her lots of attention, Jade said. I ll show my mum she s wrong.

Jade, 17, is pregnant, homeless and alone when she s brought to live with Cathy. Jade is desperate to keep her baby, but little more than a child herself, she struggles with the responsibilities her daughter brings.

Cathy is worried as soon as Jade arrives: she s never looked after a pregnant teenager before, but none of the mother and baby carers is free, and seventeen years old, seven months pregnant and homeless Jade is in a desperate situation.

But Jade doesn t want to listen or advice and although her daughter is born safely it isn t long before Jade s in trouble with the police.

Cathy knows that Jade loves her daughter with all her heart, but will she be able to get through to Jade in time to make her realise just how much she might lose?"

In her latest paperback, the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author of Damaged tells the story of the Dawn, a sweet and seemingly well-balanced girl whose outward appearance masks a traumatic childhood of suffering at the hands of the very people who should have cared for her.

Dawn was the first girl Cathy Glass ever fostered. Sweet and seemingly well balanced girl, Dawn s outward appearance masked a traumatic childhood so awful, that even she could not remember it.

During the first night, Cathy awoke to see Dawn looming above Cathy s baby s cot, her eyes staring and blank. She sleepwalks which Cathy learns is often a manifestation in disturbed children. It becomes a regular and frightening occurrence, and Cathy is horrified to find Dawn lighting a match whilst mumbling it s not my fault in her sleep one night.

Cathy discovers Dawn is playing truant from school, and struggling to make friends. More worryingly she finds her room empty one night, and her pillow covered in blood. Dawn has been self-harming in order to release the pain of her past.

When Dawn attempts suicide, Cathy realises that she needs more help than she can give. Dawn s mother eventually confides in her that Dawn was sent away to live with relatives in Ireland between the ages of 5 and 9, and Cathy soon realises that the horrors Dawn was exposed to during this time have left her a very disturbed little girl."

Angie, 6, and sister Polly, 4, are utterly distraught when they arrive to stay with foster carer Cathy Glass. Their older half-sister Ashleigh has accused their father of something horrible, and the two young sisters have been removed from home to keep them safe. Cathy tries to comfort the girls, but they are inconsolable. They just want their mummy and daddy, whom they love dearly. The girls appear to have been well looked after, but as they settle and start to talk of life at home, it becomes clear something is badly wrong. Then a chance remark sets in motion a chain of events that eventually changes everything.

Born in a prison and removed from his drug-dependent mother, rejection is all that 7-year-old Alex knows. When Cathy is asked to foster little Alex, aged 7, her immediate reaction is: Why can't he stay with his present carers for the last month? He's already had many moves since coming into care as a toddler and he'll only be with her a short while before he goes to live with his permanent adoptive family. But the present carers are expecting a baby and the foster mother isn't coping, so Alex goes to live with Cathy. He settles easily and is very much looking forward to having a forever family of his own. The introductions and move to his adoptive family go well. But Alex is only with them for a week when problems begin. What happens next is both shocking and upsetting, and calls into question the whole adoption process.

The latest title from the internationally bestselling author and foster carer Cathy Glass. Beth is a sweet-natured child who appears to have been well looked after. But it isn't long before Cathy begins to have concerns that the relationship between Beth and her father is not as it should be. Little Beth, aged 7, has been brought up by her father Derek after her mother left when she was a toddler. When Derek is suddenly admitted to hospital with psychiatric problems Beth is taken into care and arrives at Cathy's. Beth and her father clearly love each other very much and Derek spoils his daughter, treating her like a princess, but there is something bothering Cathy, something she can't quite put her finger on. Meanwhile Cathy's husband is working away a lot and coming home less at weekends. Then, suddenly, everything changes. Events take a dramatic turn for both Beth and Cathy and her family; as Cathy strives to pick up the pieces all their lives are changed forever.

Lara was seven when her birth mother died from a drug overdose. With no extended family to look after her, she was put into foster care. The care system failed Lara and now she is failing her son. Lara and her one-year-old son, Arthur, are brought to experienced foster carer, Cathy Glass, by their social worker. Lara has fled an abusive relationship and Arthur has suspected non-accidental injuries. Cathy must monitor Lara whenever she is with her son, day and night. She cannot let them out of her sight for a minute. Lara loves her son, but she puts her own needs first. Cathy must teach Lara how to care for Arthur, but will it be enough to allow her to keep him?

The true story of Melody, aged 8, the last of five siblings to be taken from her drug dependent single mother and brought into care. When Cathy is told about Melody's terrible childhood, she is sure she's heard it all before. But it isn't long before she feels there is more going on than she or the social services are aware of. Although Melody is angry at having to leave her mother, as many children coming into care are, she also worries about her obsessively - far more than is usual. Amanda, Melody's mother, is also angry and takes it out on Cathy at contact, which again is something Cathy has experienced before. Yet there is a lost and vulnerable look about Amanda, and Cathy starts to see why Melody worries about her and feels she needs looking after. When Amanda misses contact, it is assumed she has forgotten, but nothing could have been further from the truth...

The true story of a 6-year-old boy with a dreadful secret. Oskar's school teacher raises the alarm. Oskar's mother is abroad and he has been left in the care of 'friends', but has been arriving in school hungry, unkempt, and with bruises on his arms, legs and body. Experienced foster carer Cathy Glass is asked to look after him, but as the weeks pass her concerns deepen. Oskar is far too quiet for a child of six and is clearly scared of something or someone. And who are those men parked outside his school watching him?

Aged nine Joss came home from school to discover her father's suicide. She's never gotten over it. This is the true story of Joss, 13 who is angry and out of control. At the age of nine, Joss finds her father's dead body. He has committed suicide. Then her mother remarries and Joss bitterly resents her step-father who abuses her mentally and physically. Cathy takes Joss under her wing but will she ever be able to get through to the warm-hearted girl she sees glimpses of underneath the vehement outbreaks of anger that dominate the house, and will Cathy be able to build up Joss's trust so she can learn the full truth of the terrible situation?

From the author of Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller Damaged, the gripping story of a woman caught in a horrific cycle of abuse - and the desperate lengths she must go to, to escape. When Aisha spots an ad for a 'personal introductory service for professionals' in the newspaper, she could never have guessed it would lead to such a perfect marriage. But you should be careful what you wish for... Mark is sorry the first time he hits Aisha. His tears make her all the more determined to be a better wife; not to let herself down again. But however hard Aisha tries, she can't live up to Mark's impossible expectations - or escape his terrifying, violent temper. Soon she is trapped in a cycle of horrific abuse and imprisonment. And with two young children to protect, Aisha must draw on what strength she has left to find an escape. What follows is something so devastating it plunges Aisha into her darkest days yet. Is the price she must pay for freedom too high?

When Reece arrives at Cathy's door aged 7 years old, he has already passed through the hands of four different carers in four weeks. As the details of his short life emerge, it becomes clear that to help him, Cathy will face her biggest challenge yet.

The latest title from the author of Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller Damaged.

Reece is the last of six siblings to be fostered. Having been in care for four months his aggressive and disruptive behaviour has seen him passed from carer to carer. Although only 7, he has been excluded from school, and bites people so often that his mother calls him 'Sharky'.

Cathy wants to find the answers for Reece s distressing behaviour, but he has been sworn to secrecy by his mother, and will not tell them anything. As the social worker prepares for the final hearing, he finds five different files on Reece s family, and is incredulous that he had not been removed from them as a baby. When the darkest of family secrets is revealed to Cathy, Reece s behaviour suddenly starts to make sense, and together they can begin to rebuild his life."

In her new book, Cathy Glass, the no.1 bestselling author of Damaged, tells the story of the Alice, a young and vulnerable girl who is desperate to return home to her mother.

Alice, aged four, is snatched by her mother the day she is due to arrive at Cathy's house. Drug-dependent and mentally ill, but desperate to keep hold of her daughter, Alice's mother snatches her from her parents' house and disappears.

Cathy spends three anxious days worrying about her whereabouts before Alice is found safe, but traumatised. Alice is like a little doll, so young and vulnerable, and she immediately finds her place in the heart of Cathy's family. She talks openly about her mummy, who she dearly loves, and how happy she was living with her maternal grandparents before she was put into care. Alice has clearly been very well looked after and Cathy can't understand why she couldn't stay with her grandparents.

It emerges that Alice's grandparents are considered too old (they are in their early sixties) and that the plan is that Alice will stay with Cathy for a month before moving to live with her father and his new wife. The grandparents are distraught Alice has never known her father, and her grandparents claim he is a violent drug dealer.

Desperate to help Alice find the happy home she deserves, Cathy's parenting skills are tested in many new ways. Finally questions are asked about Alice's father suitability, and his true colours begin to emerge."

When foster carer, Cathy Glass, is asked to foster Darcy-May, a two-day old baby, she is very concerned. The baby is coming to her straight from hospital and will have no contact with her teenage mother, Haylea. Even more worrying, she will be brought to Cathy with a police escort as it’s vital her extended family don’t know where she is. Abandoned at birth, Cathy and her family quickly bond with little Darcy-May although they have to accept she will eventually leave them to be adopted. But fostering is rarely straight forward, and when Haylea asks to see her baby a different story begins to emerge. It’s so alarming that even Cathy, a highly experienced foster carer, struggles.

The Sunday Times and New York Times Bestseller. Although Jodie is only eight years old, she is violent, aggressive, and has already been through numerous foster families. Her last hope is Cathy Glass

Cathy, an experienced foster carer, is pressured into taking Jodie as a new placement. Jodie's challenging behaviour has seen off five carers in four months but Cathy decides to take her on to protect her from being placed in an institution.

Jodie arrives, and her first act is to soil herself, and then wipe it on her face, grinning wickedly. Jodie meets Cathy's teenage children, and greets them with a sharp kick to the shins. That night, Cathy finds Jodie covered in blood, having cut her own wrist, and smeared the blood over her face.

As Jodie begins to trust Cathy her behaviour improves. Over time, with childish honesty, she reveals details of her abuse at the hands of her parents and others. It becomes clear that Jodie's parents were involved in a sickening paedophile ring, with neighbours and Social Services not seeing what should have been obvious signs.

It s clear that Josie needs psychiatric therapy, but instead Social Services take Jodie away from her, and place her in a residential unit. Although the paedophile ring is investigated and brought to justice, Jodie s future is still up in the air. Cathy promises that she will stand by her no matter what her love for the abandoned Jodie is unbreakable."

Cathy Glass, international bestselling author, tells the shocking story of Zeena, a young Asian girl desperate to escape from her family. When 14 -year-old Zeena begs to be taken into care with a non-Asian family, she is clearly petrified. But of what? Placed in the home of experienced foster carer Cathy and her family, Zeena gradually settles into her new life, but misses her little brothers and sisters terribly. Prevented from having any contact with them by her family who insist she has brought shame and dishonour on the whole community, Zeena tries to see them at school. But when her father and uncle find out, they bundle her into a car and threaten to set fire to her if she makes anymore trouble. Zeena is too frightened to press charges against them despite being offered police protection in a safe house. Eventually, Cathy discovers the devastating truth from Zeena, and with devastation she believes there is little she can do to help her.

The heartbreaking true story of a young, troubled mother who needed help. The sixteenth fostering memoir by Cathy Glass. It is the first time Laura has been out since the birth of her baby when Cathy sees her in the school playground. A joyful occasion but Cathy has the feeling something is wrong. By the time she discovers what it is, it is too late. This is the true story of Laura whose life touches Cathy's in a way she could never have foreseen. It is also the true stories of little Darrel, Samson and Hayley who she fosters when their parents need help. Some stories can have a happy ending and others cannot, but as a foster carer Cathy can only do her best.

Jackson is aggressive, confrontational and often volatile. His mother, Kayla, is crippled with grief after tragically losing her husband and eldest son. Struggling to cope, she puts Jackson into foster care. Cathy, his carer, encourages Jackson to talk about what has happened to his family, but he just won't engage. His actions continue to test and worry everyone. Then, in a dramatic turn of events, the true reason for Jackson's behaviour comes to light ...

The true story of 2 year-old Anna, abandoned by her natural parents, left alone in a neglected orphanage. Elaine and Ian had travelled half way round the world to adopt little Anna. She couldn't have been more wanted, loved and cherished. So why was she now in foster care and living with me? It didn't make sense. Until I learned what had happened. ... Dressed only in nappies and ragged T-shirts the children were incarcerated in their cots. Their large eyes stared out blankly from emaciated faces. Some were obviously disabled, others not, but all were badly undernourished. Flies circled around the broken ceiling fans and buzzed against the grids covering the windows. The only toys were a few balls and a handful of building bricks, but no child played with them. The silence was deafening and unnatural. Not one of the thirty or so infants cried, let alone spoke.

Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author Cathy Glass returns with her first novel. The Girl in the Mirror is a moving and gripping story of a young woman who tries to piece together her past and uncovers a dreadful family secret that has been buried and forgotten. When Mandy learns her much-loved Grandpa is dying, she is devasted and returns to the house where she spent so many wonderful summers as a child. But the childhood visits ended abruptly and those happy days are now long gone. Having lost touch with the rest of her family, Mandy returns as a virtual stranger to her aunt's house to nurse her grandfather. Mandy hardly recognises the house that she loved so much as a child and it is almost as though her mind has blanked it out. But as certain memories come back to her, Mandy begins to piece together the events that brought a sudden end to her visits that fateful summer. What she discovers is so painful and shocking that she understands why it was buried and never spoken of by the family for all those years.

Tilly hates her stepfather, Dave. He abuses her mother, but she refuses to leave him. Frightened for her own safety, Tilly asks to go into foster care and is placed with Cathy. Tilly arrives with a graze on her cheek and Cathy becomes increasingly concerned by Dave's behaviour, especially when she learns he has been showering Tilly with gifts. While she's busy looking after Tilly and trying to keep her safe, Cathy is also worried about her own daughter, Lucy. She has a very difficult decision to make that will affect the rest of her life, and Cathy hopes she makes the right choice.