Cattle Market

Do you recall the first time you saw someone else naked? When you work in the care industry, your first time probably wasn't the candle-lit romantic encounter you had imagined. Cattle Market is a novelette which tracks one young man's experiences from 1960 and throughout his working life in an English "Institute" where abuse, neglect and the dehumanisation of life are commonplace. Our conscientious protagonist tries his best to cope in this environment whilst holding onto his humanity. But times, and the industry, are changing. Institutes are phased out and care homes take up the torch to lead the care industry out of the dark ages. But our protagonist finds that abuse, neglect and dehumanisation are once again, and perhaps always will be, all too common.