The novel synopsis reads “a mother's emotional journey, taking her through betrayal, alienation and heartache, to one of hope, forgiveness and resolution. When June's ex-husband abducts their nine-year-old son, Marcus, in Canada and returns with him to Switzerland, it takes heartache to a whole new level. She must come to terms with his loss in more ways than one. After following them to Switzerland, and with no abduction agreement between Canada and Switzerland (the Hague Agreement didn’t come into affect until 1983), June finds out that Andreas, her ex-husband, has obtained custody, of their son. The young mother now faces a different life, one of rules and alienation as she tries to settle into a new life. But fate steps in, and a chain of family tragedies back home changes the path of the young mother once more. After several tumultuous years of disappointment, fathomless love and self-discovery, June returns to Switzerland to live, finding a path to reconciliation and self-discovery and a new love along the way. Eventually, she begins a new life back in Canada with her new husband, and her son follows as a young man, and a deep and lasting relationship is formed with him that continues to this day.”

June told me that she has “lived in the Algarve for five years and moved here to be closer to her son as he lives in Switzerland.” She started writing this book “three years ago but the writing process took 18 months.” She also told me she has “always written but she found writing about her personal story an extremely difficult journey and one she needed to write for her son and herself.” She further explained that she “needed quietness to write and she was always afraid of writing her story” and “could not face it” but what really pushed her to write the novel was that three years ago she was very unwell and had to undergo an operation and that really influenced her to decide to take the plunge and write this memoir and to follow through with her dreams.

June told me that “the pandemic actually helped her to focus on her writing as she felt she needed to finish writing it and if she put it down, she knew she wouldn’t pick it up again so she found her flow and wrote for 8 to 12 hours a day.” I asked June what readers can hope to gain from reading her memoir and she kindly shared that “she believes that you should never give up and that it is important to follow through and take risks in one’s life and have no regrets because writing this book was a big risk for me and I only cared about my son’s reaction to the story.” “Forgiveness is also a big thing for me and following your dreams but most of all the importance of family and spending as much time together as possible, I have been able to travel with my son and work hard on building a better relationship with my son and we have become really close following these traumatic ordeals in our lives.”

Furthermore, “Facing one's fears is essential and 'I think one of the most significant moments in writing this memoir and sharing the story is how much easier it is to face what you fear than to keep it hidden and ignored. When it is in the moment and out of the darkness, it becomes less scary and finite. When fears remain in the dark, they stay infinite. I felt I needed to go there, or I would not survive it, and it will rule me forever. I went to this dark place and dragged the truth into the light. Then I wrote my feelings as best I could about what happened so long ago- raw, uncut, unbiased all about the custody, abduction, alienation, tragedies, specifically the loss of my son. I knew I had to face it head-on - to relive every moment, every feeling. I accepted the negative energy, then let it go one by one. And out of it, I started to feel better and more confident. I was more determined than ever that this force was not going to control me anymore. Over the process of writing this book, it slowly diminished and became a warm, inviting light, a beacon of hope and love.”

June is proud of her book and affirmed she “does not regret one single thing she has written and that writing this book has been the best thing because it has allowed her to close wounds and validates her experience and now both her and her son can heal from the past.” This book has received the most positive reviews of her book and readers have said they have followed every emotion and that has really touched her. In terms of the future and what we can expect from June, is that she has started to write the sequel to “I Heard the Alps Call His Name”, due to popularity, explaining that “it is a less deep novel and it is a much lighter read and is all about life after the end of the book and it follows her and her son’s life afterwards and the positivity of that journey.” She also plans to do a book launch around Christmas time in Switzerland and in Canada in Summer.

In terms of the future and what we can expect from June, is that she has started to write the sequel to “I Heard the Alps Call His Name”, due to popularity, explaining that “it is a less deep novel, following it follows her and her son’s life following the ending.” The novel is available on Amazon, Kindle and it also sold at Jolly’s Restaurant, Alvor as well as the camping ground. June’s next goal is to have the novel available at local bookstores so please keep an eye out for it. For more information, please see June’s website at www.Junebugmjorgensen.com or similarly keep up to date with the author through her Facebook page by searching June Jorgensen.


Author

Following undertaking her university degree in English with American Literature in the UK, Cristina da Costa Brookes moved back to Portugal to pursue a career in Journalism, where she has worked at The Portugal News for 3 years. Cristina’s passion lies with Arts & Culture as well as sharing all important community-related news.

Cristina da Costa Brookes