About the writers
Three people. One very personal story.
How Hard Can It Be? began with two people trying to make sense of a story they never expected to live, and a writer trusted to help them tell it.
“A story can hold heartbreak and humour on the same page.”
Clare & Jeremy Wilson
The family at the heart of the story.
Clare & Jeremy
The story, told in two voices.
Clare and Jeremy Wilson spent much of their adult lives working in the corporate world before moving into the not-for-profit sector.
Their journey to becoming parents looked very different from the one they had imagined. After years marked by infertility, miscarriage and loss, they became the first couple in the UK to successfully adopt three times through the Fostering for Adoption initiative.
Since then, they have shared their story on national radio, in an international women’s magazine and at events supporting adoption practice. Their experience also features as “Couple 10” in the Fostering for Adoption Good Practice Guide, an official resource created for adoption agencies.
They remain passionate about adoption, particularly Fostering for Adoption, and about helping other people see both its possibilities and its complexities.
Clare and Jeremy live in Somerset with their three children, where family life continues to provide significantly more material than either of them expected.
The book moves between Clare and Jeremy’s voices, allowing the same journey to be seen from two very different places.
Jane Knoop
The writer trusted with the story.
Jane Knoop is a freelance writer who uses the power of storytelling to explore the complexities of human experience and give voice to those less often heard.
Before becoming a freelance writer, Jane worked with women and young people in community development contexts in the UK and internationally, followed by editorial and writing roles in the charity sector.
For How Hard Can It Be?, Jane worked closely with Clare and Jeremy to shape years of memories, conversations and experiences into one coherent story while preserving the distinct personality of both voices.
Away from the page, Jane lives a nomadic, off-grid life aboard a 60-foot narrowboat, travelling England’s canals and rivers with her husband and two sons.
Find out more about Jane
Jane Knoop
Why tell it?
Some stories are easier to live than to tell.
This was never intended to be a handbook with all the answers.
It is a story about the parts of family-making that are often kept quiet: infertility, miscarriage, grief, complicated faith, uncertainty, fostering, adoption and the strange business of carrying on when life refuses to follow the plan.
Clare and Jeremy wanted to tell that story honestly, including the moments that hurt, the moments that made no sense and the moments that were unexpectedly funny.
Because sometimes another person’s story does not provide an answer. It simply reminds us that we are not the only ones finding our way through the untidy bits.
Meet the story
The writers are only the beginning.
Start at the moment Clare realised that one dream had to be laid down before another could begin.
Available in hardback, paperback and Kindle editions