Joan Westerman

Little Sister Joan Westerman

Jess was born into an Australian family in the late 1940s. She had two older sisters and a brother until she was eight, when another brother was born. Her mother, May, was also the youngest in her family, which was dominated by her mother. May did as she was told and was the dutiful daughter and wife, but resentment built up in her life, which she unknowingly took out on her children. Jess spent her lonely childhood in a dysfunctional household, with the only relief being her vivid imagination and a love of the sea. Her sisters teased her and called her the baby, but Jess knew she had something quite special: her world of words. Without the words and the sea, Jess may not have come through life, but her adult world reflects her strength and determination. This is a story of one woman's journey and survival, despite the emotional vacuum that surrounded her early years.