No Accountability - Keith Lawton

                No Accountability is the follow up book to Mr. Lawton’s first book, No Photographs. It is the true account of the author’s childhood as he is moved through the system, care homes to foster homes, after tragedy strikes his family at the young age of five. As I read, keeping in mind this was a factual non-fiction account of Mr. Lawton’s life, it seemed almost unreal that this is a true story and parts of it were very hard to read. Knowing that a child was treated so horribly and nothing was done to help him is both tragic and disgusting. These things should never happen to anyone and my hopes are that things are better in today’s system, although I’m not naïve enough to think bad things don’t still happen. Mr. Lawton writes with a passion and drive that makes the reader want to understand what happened through a child’s eyes. It is an easy flowing style of writing that is both engaging and thought provoking. He doesn’t just write about what happened to him but also implores people to start doing something to make changes to the system and to be aware and report any wrongdoings. These things happened in the U.K. so I’m not altogether sure if the laws are the same here in Canada, but I’m in hopes things have gotten better. The book’s timeline starts in the 1950s and I loved reading about what life was like growing up during this time, pre-tragedy. The search for what happened to his father, because he didn’t remember due to his tender age at the time, is a tug at the heart strings. Mr. Lawton’s emotions are conveyed so well that the reader is able to feel the author’s pain throughout the book. I like the fact that this is written directly by Mr. Lawton and not a different writer that he has told his story to, because he expresses the feelings in a raw way and nothing is sugar-coated to make the story “pretty”. I hope Mr. Lawton has found some peace and happiness in his life and I thank him for opening up his life in hopes of helping others and raising awareness. 

                I read this in digital format and it was very well edited with a sweet picture on the cover. Excellent!