Elizabeth Stead reveals how her relationships with several family members inspired her writing. She remembers her mother being emotionally unstable, addicted to prescription drugs and committing suicide after deep sleep treatment at Chelmsford. She also alleges sexual abuse by three of her uncles. She mentions
The Fishcastle and
The Book of Tides. The former is noted as 'an answer' to her aunt Christina Stead's
The Man Who Loved Children.