A Devoted Dad Wants The Best For His Children

Book review: I Came To Say Goodbye by Caroline Overington

From Audible

I don’t know anyone who hasn’t lived a life where they had to dodge or deal with many curveballs. If I sit down and tell you my life story — which I actually intend to do — some people might think it’s not possible to have lived through so much.

I have shared several stories from my life already, some fictionalized.

They say truth is stranger than fiction.

If you tell me the book, I Came To Say Goodbye by Caroline Overington, is based a true story, I will instantly believe you.

Caroline Overington, the author

This is not the first book of this author I’ve listened. The first one was Sisters of Mercy, which had an intriguing plot, and made me curious to read another by the same author.

However, it took me months to do so, and I already have the next lined up to binge-listen (is that even a word).

You can read more about this author here: Those Scary Moments When A Helping Hand Turns Abusive

The plot, heartbreaking

I cried so many times while listening to this book. This is a family drama of the highest order, set in Australia.

The entire book is a letter written to a judge, except for the prologue.

The book starts off giving you the visual of a woman walking into the children’s ward of a hospital. She picks up a baby, puts the little one into a shopping bag, gets into a Toyota Corolla and drives away. Surveillance cameras capture every move.

It stops there, leaving the reader wondering what happened to the young child.

Then the letter starts.

Med Atley is the father of three children, Kat, Blue, and Fat. Those are all nicknames. Med was married to Pat, who left him shortly after the birth of the youngest.

Med tells his story to the judge — he only reveals the reason for it close to the end of the book — it’s heartbreaking.

Kat, being the oldest, is the first to leave the house, and the story, and only returns towards the end if the book, when she tells part of the story Med couldn’t. It was too hard for him, and as a reader, it broke my heart.

Blue barely features in the book, which leaves the youngest — Donna Faye, nicknamed Fat.

Sitting here, thinking of her story, I feel tears welling up again.

As the story unfolds, we learn of the wrong choices Fat has made, and see her mental health deteriorating. She can’t stand up against her partner, father of her first child, and loses that child to the state.

My heart screamed many times that Fat needed help.

Poor Med, he did his best, but he didn’t see what I, as a reader, did.

I cried for Fat. I cried for Med. And in the end, I cried for Kat. And Zeth.

Zeth?

If you want to know who that is, just read the book. You won’t be sorry if you do, as this is an intriguing and heart-gripping story of a life with many twists and turns.

Closing note

What made this book so believable for me is the endearing tone of Med, the simple way he talks, but also my own experiences in life. I know how strange life can be, and how if you look back on it, you see how people might think it’s a figment of your imagination.

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