We have a picture of what it looks like to be a mother, a father, a son, a daughter, a grandparent, a family. What we need to know to the core of our being is that the word ‘family’ has been bastardised. After Harvest makes clear that there is something else going on under our roofs. It is an energy whose agenda is to pull us apart rather than bind us together in sisterhood and brotherhood. Its hold can be broken simply by knowing it exists.

In her book, Mary-Ellen unravels many of the occurrences in her life as a child in a family of 10. By giving voice to just what she experienced, she shines the light on the existence of this energy which, in the ‘nicest’ possible way, would have us go for each other. Rich with realisation, this ‘story’ puts the energy of ‘not love’ on notice whilst at the same time holding with the deepest of love her parents and siblings. Few books expose as this book does, and few authors write from a place of being healed from that to which they were exposed. Mary-Ellen delivers with a beautiful sensitivity the wisdom of the ages. There is a deep richness in these words.