My Piece of Happiness - Lewis Davies

My Piece of Happiness is a novel exposing the flaws and shortcomings of social care in modern Britain and the stigma attached to those the care system serve. Set in Cardiff, it centres upon the life of care worker George Rees, his clients and his colleagues. Silently raging against the constraints and bureaucracy that come hand in hand with his job, he gets more and more frustrated by the lack of support offered by the system he works in.

From the outset, George goes above and beyond the call of duty. He gets a paper round to complete with his client Sean even topping up his wages with his own money. Although an unorthodox approach in terms of the care worker rule book, the job gives Sean a sense of pride and self confidence. He later proudly tells his girlfriend Sarah's mother that he has a job and even continues the job after George's departure. George has the same approach to his other client Andy, who is severely disabled. He takes him to church every Sunday to sing and also takes him to the pub, giving him beer in his cup. During these times the reader is told of Andy's smiles and contentment, proof that he enjoys the interaction.

But throughout the novel George's techniques aren't approved of by his colleagues. He is working extra hours and getting too involved. His colleagues are all far more traditional in their approach. Mike is a unenthusiastic jobsworth, obssessing about the weekend rota and the fact that his teenage sons will be alone. Angel does things by the book and is defensive when George criticises her. Apart from one secret liasion, she constantly contradicts George, approving an approach which is most economical for the service. Boss Test is nervous, miserable and unhappy, stuck in a job he detests with responsibility he doesn't want. George's colleagues represent everything he rails against; pen-pushers obssessed with budgets, rules, meetings and set working practices.

The novel poses awkward questions about responsibility for people needing care. Following his mother's death, Sean has been cared for by his alcoholic father. But when it becomes clear he cannot cope with caring for his son, the care team are forced to decide his fate. Sean is sent to live in a hospital temporarily, an experience that leaves him scarred, agitated and upset. He repeats his wish not to go back there. The team are forced to ask his sister if she can care for him. But as a mother who works full-time she refuses and is unable to commit to caring for her brother. Sean's experience reflects how people in the care system can simply get found in a situation where they have nowhere to go and no-one who wants to take responsibility for them. Should it be Sean's father who gets his act together? Should his sister sacrifice her job and her family to care for him? Or should the care team use their stretched budget to care for him?

The relationship between Sean and Sarah is perhaps the most uneasy part of the novel's frustration with the care system. Because they are in the care system, their relationship is presumed by many to be a chaste and innocent one. It is assumed that because they are mentally disabled and more vulnerable than others, they won't venture towards sex. Sarah's mother helps her to apply make up but it never occurs to her that her daughter may be considering, or may even have already had, sex. When Sean confides in George that he wants to sleep with Sarah, even George is a little reluctant to talk in depth. But after discussing safe sex, he decides they should be left to it. However, when they are caught together, the fall out is devastating for both George and Sean. The episode makes the reader question whether George was right not to tell anyone that their relationship was sexual and whether the people who assumed it wasn't were simply naive.

A damning indictment against the social care system, like Poppy Shakespeare, My Piece of Happiness shows that 'care' may be the last thing on the list for the care system. Trying to balance budgets, case loads and rules all become above the clients' needs. Angry and realistically set against a brilliantly portrayed backdrop of Cardiff, My Piece of Happiness exposes the shortcomings of a system that puts clients last.

My next read: The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson