When the Bough Breaks

Millie's is a small family just a mother, a father, a small brother, Hamish, and her. Both her parents had been orphaned (and were introduced in Watts' novelFlower), but the family they created was tight-knit and loving. When Millie's mother announces that she is pregnant, it seems life is perfect. They have each other, and, although the Great Depression has brought hard times to their small town, Millie's father's services as a blacksmith are still in demand. But when her mother dies, suddenly everything changes. Her father retreats into depression and Millie, only thirteen, finds herself responsible for a newborn baby. When a stranger appears and threatens the remnants of the family even further, Millie musters courage she never dreamed she had to rebuild the home that means so much to her. Irene N. Watts' memorable story is as complex and as comforting as family life itself.

Irene N. Watts is a writer and a playwright who has worked throughout Canada and Europe. She is a life member of the Playwrights Guild of Canada. Her play “Lillie” based on her novel, Flower, was awarded first prize in UNESCO’s Biennial Playwriting Award for Adolescents in 2006. She is also the author of three award-winning novels about the Kindertransport; Good-bye Marianne, Remember Me, and Finding Sophie, which have all been published in the United Kingdom and translated into Italian. She also co-edited Tapestry of Hope: Holocaust Writing for Young People with Lillian Boraks-Nemetz. Irene N. Watts lives in Vancouver.