Pick Up The Pieces

Charmaine Richardson’s highly personal and revealing account describes how she was abused as a child within her comfortable, middle-class London home. It describes the ‘time bomb’ for her and her family, something that led to depression, counselling and a chance meeting with sex-offender expert Ray Wyre, who she married in 1999. A large part of the book is given over to her life with Ray, his work at the Gracewell clinic and an analysis of his book, The Murder of Childhood (2nd Edn., Waterside Press, 2018) and the failure of politicians to heed his warnings about how we need to understand and deal with perpetrators. The book also contains the author’s own views on bringing-up children to feel safe, comfortable and resistant to the devious ways in which paedophiles operate, including by the language we use with ‘little people’. An exclusive insight into the mind, thinking and ground-breaking work of sex-offender expert Ray Wyre (1951-2008). Contains an analysis of and insights concerning his book with Tim Tate, The Murder of Childhood (Waterside Press, 2018, ISBN 978-1-909976-62-7). Explains why we should listen to children and how we can increase the chances of making them safe. Shows how the author was left to unpick the chaos of Wyre’s personal life, his debts incurred in pursuit of his mission, gambling and the free-spending lifestyle that stood at odds with and was an escape from his intense professional commitment. Review ‘One of the many strengths of (this) touching memoir… is that [the author] gives us an insight into what made this extraordinary, vital crusader on behalf of children tick…’— Tim Tate.