My new romance, The Awakening, is a dramatic western romance,
the 4th book in The Friessen Legacy Romance Series. The Awakening explores an issue of homelessness for single mothers, an issue that is not
given much light and is a very serious problem in every community.
Laura is a maid who
works for a pittance and is fired right before Christmas. Her last check is
withheld by her wealthy employer, unable to pay her predator of a landlord his
excessive rent she is forced to live in her car with her young son.
The Awakening is a work of fiction. But rest assured as one
of my reviewers noted, “This book could have been taken from the news today. Bad
things do happen to good people.”
And over the holidays it is that much harder. Holidays are
time for celebrating, families, giving, love, and yes the gift of giving. But
when you're poor, have only enough to feed yourself and your child let alone pay
for a roof over your head, for many single mothers, holidays are a nightmare...a very stressful time of year. Because they don’t have to give to
their child, what others do. And hearing that you just need love, doesn’t take
the look of sadness from child’s eyes, when there is no Christmas Tree or gifts
for them. Or ease a single mother’s conscious and help them sleep better at
night.
A lot of single mothers are barely getting by, living somewhere
around the poverty line. And one of the worst nightmares for many is finding a
decent place to rent. What many don’t know is male landlords dominate the population.
And single mothers become prey to the unscrupulous male landlord who are
nothing but predators in disguise. There are no laws that are accessible to a
single mother to protect them. They are forced to keep their head down, walk on
and not make any noise. Many landlords will refuse to rent to a single mother,
and they will give any excuse. I’m sure everyone has heard them.
In smaller communities, resort communities and many of the
Islands the focus is on vacation rentals, and what happens to single mothers
and children is they’re forced in the summer to live in tents to make way for
the wealthy to rent out homes. But what would happen to these communities who
employ these single mothers, the children that fill the schools if they left? Many
of these communities would die a slow death. Many have said this is the way of
the world and the property owner has the right. Yes they do, I will agree
there. But morally, it is shameful, and it is not up to governments to solve
the problem. This is a community problem, and comes down to right and wrong.
Are all male landlords predators? No they are not. In fact,
I have been told of one man and his wife who witnessed a single mother in a
similar situation. They approached her, moved her to a cottage they owned, and
charged her only what she could afford. They treated her with respect, her
children too. There was a mutual respect that existed between them. The landlord--husband
went above and beyond to bring her dry wood to burn, picked her and her
children up when her car broke down. They gave her kindness, and provided her a
home that was well maintained and in good repair. And this single mother was
able to get back on her feet, because of this kindness.
If you read the Awakening, Laura lived in a slum, a basement
suite that really was unlivable, renting from a landlord who refused to repair
anything, and jacked up her rent to something that wasn’t affordable. And when
she lost her job, unable to get her last check her landlord suggested other
ways for her to pay her rent. On her back. Of course she refused, and did the
only thing she could, moved her and her child into her car, in the cold.
I've made no mention of single fathers with children in this blog, as they do not encounter the same issue
as single mothers. Because society does view single mothers and single fathers differently, have you ever wondered why?
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