Like many young women with ambitious career plans, Bernadette Agius hadn’t exactly factored a child into her life plan when she fell pregnant. The usual anxieties of motherhood were only further compounded when, moments after giving birth, she was told that her newborn son, Richard, had Down syndrome.

For most of Richard’s early years, Agius was a self-described ‘drill sergeant’, highly strung and hyper-disciplined, desperate to give her son the best chance at life. Despite a mounting sense of hopelessness and despair, she maintained a stoic exterior, for fear that admitting any unhappiness would reflect on her love for her son.

But if Agius was hesitant to be vulnerable in the past, her memoir more than makes up for it now. It is with incredible candour and warmth that she lets her readers into her life and Richard’s, sharing frustrations, triumphs, heartache and joy. In doing so, she dispels any myths or misconceptions her readers may have had about Down syndrome. Richard graduates school, navigates the workforce, and matures into a remarkable, independent young man. But for everything Agius has taught her son, Richard has taught his mum – and indeed, anyone who reads her book – so much more.

Reviewed by Emma Harvey