Can I Speak to Josephine Please?
By Sheila Brill
With a Foreword by Miriam Margolyes
Published by Resilient Books
“A deeply moving, tender and proud book.”
Miriam Margolyes, BAFTA-winning actress
Theirs was an unlikely life together. Sheila gave birth to Josephine on 11th May 1993 and for twenty-three years, they co-existed in a loving, mother-daughter relationship but one with a difference. Josephine suffered catastrophic brain injury at birth, never spoke to Sheila, rarely smiled and was barely able to see the faces of the people who loved her.
Josephine’s acute disability was the outcome of medical negligence during labour in a London hospital. Sheila, a former managing editor, and her husband Peter, learned to accept a life revolving around medical emergencies, surgical interventions and the endless daily demands of a profoundly disabled child. It was a steep learning curve. They learned to love their ‘wee girl’ deeply and Josephine, in her own way, wholly returned their parental love.
Can I speak to Josephine please? isn’t a misery memoir; it’s the story of a person who touched the lives of so many people – a bright and beautiful young lady who could ‘work the room’ despite her enormous limitations.
The challenge
A self-published book about a tragic life story; probably readers would prefer to spend their free time with lighter books.
The solution
The author’s professionalism – Sheila’s title was professionally edited and designed, and she and her husband carefully checked every stage of the production process – were at the back of my mind throughout the campaign. In addition, the press release aimed to introduce the key topics raised in the book: deep shock of the family when they learned that their daughter would be severely disabled for life; medical negligence; looking after a child needing 24/7 support; the family’s legal action against the Health Trust; the human dignity of a very disabled person… Moreover, I collaborated with all the parties involved such as law firm Leigh Day, who supported the family in their legal proceedings (we had regular meetings) and charity Sense, who took part in the book’s launch at the ‘Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’. I also worked closely with Sheila to devise media pitches encompassing all the topics mentioned above.
The result
Both national daily The Daily Mirror and the Glasgow Herald ran long pieces based on the book. Leading parenting website, Mumsnet (252K FB followers; 148.7K followers on Twitter X) featured an extensive article. Religious publication, Methodist Recorder, and the Jewish Chronicle published a review and an interview respectively. As for the specialist media, the British Journal of Midwifery run a two-page article, and ‘Able!’, the bi-monthly lifestyle magazine for disabled people, published a long review. We also got an excellent response from Sheila’s local media.