A MALDON counsellor hopes to allow people to gain an insight into their own problems - after penning a novel based on her 30 years of experience in mental health.
Poppy Ann Miller, who lives in Butt Lane, recently published Bed of Black Flowers – Diary of An Unwelcomed Child which chronicles the life of Shirley, a fictional girl who was brought up around Romford and Dagenham in the 1950s and 1960s.
Her mother believed her child-bearing years were over and rejects her arrival and this becomes a constant theme throughout Shirley's early life – and, through a series of abusive relationships, the book delves into the topics of abuse and its effects on mental health.
"There is violence, violent sex and swearing," said Poppy, who has been a counsellor for 30 years and has worked in a variety of jobs in the mental health industry, when asked to summarise the book.
"I've been writing since 2003, I've been making notes but nobody can possibly identify who I'm writing about. It is memories from what I have witnessed and what people told me. It's like a lot of writing – you write about your life experiences even when you do not realise it.
"The sub-title is 'Diary of An Unwelcomed Child'. I'm prepared to say that I realised that I was growing up and making horrendous mistakes in relationships and wanted to understand what that was all about.
"I went through counselling and – in order to become a counsellor – you need to look at your own issues. I was therapied out by the time I wrote the book," she said.
But while there are elements of her own life scattered throughout the book, Poppy has also taken in other experiences to help write the novel: "In the book I talk about giving a baby away and that did not happen to me," she said.
"It's not all my story. There are elements of Shirley within me," said Poppy.
But by the time readers come to the end of the book, while the author describes it as 'harrowing', Poppy hopes that, through the situations described, people will gain a new sense of their own problems.
"I would like people to gain some more self-awareness of their own problems and people to have a greater insight into what makes them tick and escape abusive situations," she said.
"I would hope that people would reflect on their own past and childhood and see how it's affecting their life today and if they're in an abusive relationship to do something about it - and see the links."
Bed of Black Flowers can be bought from All Books in Maldon High Street and from Amazon.co.uk at £7.99.
