The best introduction to this important topic I can provide is to quote the dedication from my second romance novel, ‘When the Nailbourne Flows’:
DEDICATION
This book contains neurodivergent characters on the autism spectrum.
While the story is fictitious, two of the wonderful organisations featured are real, and perform outstanding work for adults with special educational needs throughout the Elham Valley.
At the time of writing:
Broadstreet House at Lyminge accommodates 18 residents in a beautiful Georgian manor, providing superb care, opportunities, and life skills for their charges.
http://www.broadstreethouse.co.uk
The Fifth Trust serves 170 students across two sites in Barham and Elham. The Elham Valley Vineyard location features a garden centre, café, plus various workshops, including pottery and woodwork that you’ll find mentioned throughout the novel. I’m a regular visitor and encourage anyone in the vicinity to explore it for themselves. If their website inspires you, I know the charity would appreciate a donation.
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As mentioned above, I’m a regular at The Fifth Trust’s site at The Elham Valley Vineyard. The gorgeous Elham Valley has been a beloved location for me since I was a teenager. I’m often to be found walking its hills, woods, and tracking the course of the Nailbourne in both torrent and regular years.
The vineyard is a magnificent place, offering – among other things – a selection of delicious and refreshing wines made from grapes grown right outside the café. Their flavours are as varied and delectable as the neurodiverse adults who tend the vines, along with their other duties at the site. These include serving customers at the café and garden centre. They’re a pleasure to meet and a delight to speak with.
After various dealings with people on the autism spectrum, plus deep research and my ongoing support of the trust, I realised siting this latest narrative within The Elham Valley would lend a gentle but oft-neglected voice to those with special educational needs. It also quietly promotes the trust’s incredible work through the vehicle of romantic fiction. That I desired to tell a later-in-life romance story about a loving but shy woman of great integrity, dovetailed perfectly into this concept. Having Carol Wyatt put her own needs and desires on hold (as so many do) to care for a young relative challenged by autism, supplied viable excuses beyond her shyness for a ‘failure to launch’ regarding intimate relationships. She sacrifices everything, leaving neither time nor energy to pursue life’s ‘normal’ interpersonal milestones.
Melding Carol’s expected occasional bouts of self-pity with an underlying story message about letting go so life may flow when and where it will, fitted perfectly with the characteristics of the Nailbourne: one of three winterbourne torrents located within my home county of Kent. The largest of those three is situated within The Elham Valley.
‘When the Nailbourne Flows’ will be available in Kindle and Paperback formats from 25th September 2024.
John Eden 