Shattered

Sometimes a family's love can achieve the impossible... On 12th October 1995, Mavis Marsh answered her door to the news every parent dreads most. 'It's your son,' the policeman told her. 'He's been in an accident.' Only hours earlier, Matthew had been set for a dazzling future but, in one terrible night, a devastating tragedy altered everything. Days later, Mavis found herself standing at her son's bedside as doctors told her to give up all hope. According to them, the damage to Matthew's brain was too severe for him to recover, and the boy she had known and loved was gone forever. But Mavis and her husband, Keith couldn't give up on their only son. And refusing to accept the diagnosis, they started to work with Matthew themselves, desperately urging their comatose son to fight. For months they tried, to no avail. But then, almost half a year later, he suddenly started to respond...

This book is excellent, it was written by Mavis Marsh but its a very sad story on the journey she and her family have been through with her son Matthew. This story makes you appreciate what you have and what a struggle her family and her have been and are still going through.

My Name Is Angel

This moving memoir tells the story of how a young woman descended into the world of prostitution and drug abuse, yet found the strength to rebuild her life. Rhea Coombs' father is a convicted murderer and she grew up with a hippy mother who constantly moved house and lived in a succession of squats and communes before settling in Bristol. It was in Bristol that Rhea had her first introduction to drugs, pimps and prostitution. Pregnant at sixteen, she escaped to London and mixed with gangsters in seedy Soho nightclubs, eventually becoming addicted to crack and heroin and running a crack house. Rhea was forced to give up her children, but she never stopped loving them and through her strength and courage was finally able to escape for the world of drugs and prostitution, and regain custody of her children. This is her remarkable story.

This book is a such heart wrenching story of courage and love, I recommend you read this book. It give you an insight to the drug scene, that most of lucky enough not to see!!

Runaway

Skye's story is one of survival against the odds. Abandoned by her mother at the age of four and placed in a series of horrible institutions, she learnt to fend for herself from an early age. After a horrific rape when she was ten, she ran from the care home and went to live with the gypsies in the New Forest. She always yearned for freedom and was fearless and impulsive. Her curiosity took her all over the world -- from the abattoirs of France at the age of 15 to the dizzy heights of the Paris fashion world, onto the underbelly of Amsterdam where she became a diamond smuggler at the age of 17 and then to the film studios of Hollywood where she worked as a stunt woman on films like Blues Brothers. Her life took a very different turn when she moved to the island of Phuket in Thailand, adopted four children from different backgrounds, Angelia Jolie-style, and started to sponsor another three. With a group of friends she helped set up an orphanage for street children in neighbouring Cambodia who were eking out a miserable existence on one of the municipal rubbish dumps in Pnom Phen.At the age of 45 her life revolves around children, both her own four and the Cambodians she has pledged to help.The runaway street child has fianlly found a reason to stop running.

I read this book in two days it kept me hook from start to finish, this little girl owned everything by the age of 14 and by 18 she was a diamond smuggler with a gangster life style . She was brought up in a home that provided abused from the start, this book is so amazing a must read!!!!

Nobody's Child

Michael Seed should have received what every child deserves: love, care and attention, and the chance to be just what he was - an innocent young boy. Instead, from as far back as he can remember, Michael's childhood was nothing but a daily ordeal of unspeakable neglect, misery and abuse from a father whose tyranny of fear stole Michael's formative years from him and drove his wife and Michael's mother to suicide. After years of silence, he now feels ready to tell a story that, though shockingly painful, is a testament to one human's remarkable ability to triumph over the most appalling of circumstances. Living under the 'care' of his adoptive parents, life for Michael was hell from the start. Long before his school days, the only lesson he learned was to try and avoid being noticed by his alcoholic father. If he managed this, there was a chance of escaping the daily beatings and extreme verbal abuse he only assumed was part of normal childhood, and it would only be his mother that would receive whatever violence was meted out that day. More often than not, though, Daddy would find time to ensure that both Michael and his Mother felt his wrath together.Then, one awful night, Michael realized that the abuse was escalating to another level when his father began the sexual abuse that would continue for years. The abuse did not stop at home. Once he began school, Michael once again fell victim to terrible bullying and a teacher who violated him repeatedly. After his mother's death, he was sent to his grandmother who, it turned out, was prepared to show no mercy. Michael, it seemed, was destined for a life of inescapable misery. Yet, despite the horror of these years, Michael was ultimately saved by his own will to live, and the books which inspired him to move on and seek a better life. This is the remarkable story of an individual who, against all the odds, managed to preserve his own dignity and finally escape the horrors of a stolen childhood.

This book was very sad at the beginning, but has a happy ending. A family who hate one another and especially Michael. His mum does love him by what I can make out, but doesn't stop any abuse from his father. But he comes through it and continues to make a success of his life. This book is a must read, it shows how much courage he has got to get were he is today.

Touched by evil

The first supernatural misery memoir - this is the harrowing but ultimately inspirational story of a little girl who was beaten, raped, neglected and despised, but rescued from despair by an angel - her sister Lucy.

An amazing story - all the more amazing that it is true! Michele is a real heroine to have lived the life she has and to have created the one she has now. I would heartily recommend this to anyone, but especially those who have suffered too and are looking for a positive kindred spirit to connect with.

Betrayed

This is the heartbreaking true story of an unimaginable betrayal. For the first six years of her life, Sarah Harris was a happy and popular little girl. Until she became the target of a dangerous but invisible enemy - and her life became a living hell. Before long she was suspended from school, alienated from her friends, and terrified of herself. For her mother, Lyndsey, it was a life beyond her worst nightmares. The daughter she loved so much seemed to have transformed overnight into a child she was almost scared of. Her little girl was doing the unthinkable: stealing razor blades, attempting to poison her friends, even accusing her parents of sexual abuse. Soon, Lyndsey's marriage was on the verge of collapse, social services stepped in, and Lyndsey was fighting to keep her family together - and to save her daughter's sanity. But worse was to come as Lyndsey discovered her family had been victims of the most hurtful betrayal of all...

An Unbelievable story, hard to think that somebody could be so wicked. Worth reading if you want an insight into the evil people living all around us - in this case a close family friend.

Damaged

Although Jodie is only eight years old, she is violent, aggressive, and has already been through numerous foster families. Her last hope is Cathy Glass. A number 1 Sunday Times Bestseller. At the Social Services office, Cathy (an experienced foster carer) is pressured into taking Jodie as a new placement. Jodie's challenging behaviour has seen off five carers in four months. Despite her reservations, Cathy decides to take on Jodie to protect her from being placed in an institution. Jodie arrives, and her first act is to soil herself, and then wipe it on her face, grinning wickedly. Jodie meets Cathy's teenage children, and greets them with a sharp kick to the shins. That night, Cathy finds Jodie covered in blood, having cut her own wrist, and smeared the blood over her face. As Jodie begins to trust Cathy her behaviour improves. Over time, with childish honesty, she reveals details of her abuse at the hands of her parents and others. It becomes clear that Jodie's parents were involved in a sickening paedophile ring, with neighbours and Social Services not seeing what should have been obvious signs.Unfortunately Jodie becomes increasingly withdrawn, and it's clear she needs psychiatric therapy. Cathy urges the Social Services to provide funding, but instead they decide to take Jodie away from her, and place her in a residential unit. Although the paedophile ring is investigated and brought to justice, Jodie's future is still up in the air. Cathy promises that she will stand by her no matter what -- her love for the abandoned Jodie is unbreakable.

I have never been touched so much by a book. I feel so sorry for any child that goes through what little Jodie had to. You do not think parents can be that horrid to a child that they made.

Goodbye, Dearest Holly

New and updated, the paperback edition of the bestselling true story of the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, told with heart-rending honesty by Holly's father Kevin. Some tragedies become part of our national history. On August 4, 2002 Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman disappeared. For the next thirteen days their families, the police, and the local community searched for them, while the nation watched in horrific suspense. Almost two weeks after Holly and Jessica went missing, their bodies were found. Two days later Ian Huntley was charged with their murders. In the terrible weeks that followed Kevin started to make notes, fearful that he might forget important details. GOODBYE, DEAREST HOLLY tells the story of the nightmare that began on August 4th, from the moment it became clear that Holly and Jessica were missing, through the long investigation and its aftermath. An unflinching tale of surviving tragedy, Kevin's diaries tell of battles with the media, police bureaucracy and the legal system. The book also includes a gripping account of the trial and convictions of Huntley and Maxine Carr. Above all, GOODBYE, DEAREST HOLLY is a loving act of fatherhood.

This book is the most outstanding account I have ever read of a catastrophic family tragedy . It stands out because of the way in which an ordinary person has recorded the sort of horror each of us dreads in our worst nightmares. It's a brave personal story of a family living with tragedy whilst in a goldfish bowl, the nation is watching. We are humbled by it and learn an enormous amount about human nature and the human condition.

A Mothers Story

'Thank God we have found her.' Sara Payne's haunting words as she announced on television that the body of her daughter, missing for 17 days had been found, touched every individual. Ever since the tragic events of 1st July 2000 when their daughter Sarah was snatched by known paedophile Roy Whiting, Sara and Mike Payne have lived their lives in the public spotlight. In Sara Payne: A Mother's Story Sara will tell her personal story, from her heart and from her unique perspective for the first time. She describes how Mike and she coped with the loss of their daughter and the stress placed upon them by the media campaign for Sarah's Law, and the rebuilding of a family in the aftermath of such a trauma. Each reminded the other of the child they had lost. Guilt, anger and grief pushed the childhood sweethearts down into a spiral of alcohol abuse and violence. Although the future is still uncertain about whether the family can live together, this book is ultimately a story of hope.Although she will talk about Sarah's murder and that horrific time three years ago, this is also a book about the aftermath of those events and will bring the story up to date with the arrival of her new baby daughter later this year.

WOW, having read a fair few true crime books i didn't really know what to expect of this book being written by the mother of a victim. However, having just read the first few pages i knew it was going to be a fabulous read, it was really well written and conveyed who Sarah was as a child alongside the events of the horrendous crime which occured. This made it ever more emotional in the chapters about her murder and the funeral, it did bring me to tears! I would really recommend this book to all, just be cautious that it will pull at your heart strings.

Daddys Little girl

Julia's family was a picture of respectability. To the outside world it was middle-class, decent, loving. But her mother didn't love her enough. And her father loved her too much. Between the ages of seven and thirteen Julia's father sexually abused her. While Julia's mother's obsessive domestic tendencies occupied her elsewhere, Julia's father concentrated his attentions on his daughter. When, eventually, Julia twice found the courage to reveal what was happening to her, her mother encouraged her to retract her allegations. Years later, after Julia had married and had two daughters, her father confessed - and Julia was able to record their conversation and press charges. Her father is currently serving eight years in prison. Julia no longer has a relationship with her mother and brother, but she has successfully rebuilt a new life for herself. This the dramatic story of how, by confronting her painful past, Julia has begun to build herself a successful future.

Wow! Simply fantastic, Julia Latchem-smith's story is defiantly not for the faint of heart, graphic from the start and heart wrenching until the end, it made my stomach turn more than once but nevertheless her amazing life has been made into a book that is highly recommendable!

Please Daddy No

Stuart just wanted his father to love him, but he was made to believe he was too naughty to be loved. Finally David Howarth was sent to prison for abusing Stuart's young sisters. Nobody knew the truth about Stuart's abuse until one fateful day when his father tried it again and Stuart fought back in the only way he knew how. Stuart Howarth spent the first thirty years of his life in mental and physical hell. After years of emotional torment and despair, at the age of 32 Stuart felt an overwhelming urge to see his father (who he now knows was actually his stepfather), then living in Wales. Seeking reconciliation, Stuart was only to be met by the same old abusive man. The rage, pain and confusion boiled over in Stuart and he fought back, killing his stepfather. When Stuart's story came to light in the courtroom, it was so terrible that he received the minimum possible sentence for his crime and only served thirteen months in Strangeways prison in Manchester. But while in prison, the cruel system compounded the crimes of his evil abuser, and he suffered at the hands of the prison guards.What happened to him during those months led to him suing the Home Office and Strangeways on his release and winning his case. This is the story of a sweet-natured boy who grew into a brave young man and refused to allow himself to be a victim any longer.

Fantastic from cover to cover, couldn't put it down, kept me on the edge of my seat all the through. Spine tingling, gripping, chilling, emotional, and most of all ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC. Would highly recommend to anyone who likes this kind of book

Unbeaten

For Kim Woodburn finding fame in her 60s in the smash hit television series "How Clean is Your House? "with fellow dust-buster Aggie Mackenzie is like living a fairytale. Often she has simply wished that she had never been born, for Kim has overcome horrific emotional and physical abuse both at the hands of her alcoholic mother and her philandering, sexually abusive father. In her brave and revealing story Kim's memories of growing up are not of love and cuddles, but of beatings and random cruelty. Shuttled between the brutal houses of her warring parents, a succession of miserable children's homes and a grim convent -- Kim's past has cast a long shadow over her life. But just before her sixteenth birthday she finally made her escape, only to find herself in an abusive marriage a few years later. It has taken decades of hard work, and a wonderfully happy marriage to conquer depression but now she has emerged unbowed and unbeaten as Britain's Queen of Clean.

I found this book very hard to put down once I started reading the harrowing life Kim went through. Starting with her own mother and then her siblings and then her first marriage. What a strong and courageous person she is. This is a must read. Thank goodness she found happiness in the end, with her lovely hubby and her TV show.

My Father's Keeper

A powerful and compelling memoir of growing up with a schizophrenic father, who hid his mental illness behind a charismatic larger-than-life, gluttonous personality and found logical explanations for the most bizarre ways of thinking. As a child Julie was close to her father. More friend than parent, he would belt her into their tiny car and they'd punch through yellow lights, scarf down candy bars before supper and had their own way of making fun of Julie's mother in a secret language of eye-rolling. She adored her father for his exuberance, and pitied him when he broke down in suicidal desperation. But as she neared 10, a darker side emerged: her father could switch instantly from squeaking out a tear as they harmonized to "Hey Jude" in the car, to pulling his loaded pistol on the man that asked for change in the McDonald's drive-thru as they waited. The isolation that came with the family's move to the country saw the wacky, unorthodox elements of her father's denied mental illness take a back seat to paranoid fear. Her father would tell her any boy who befriended her was just pretend-acting until he could rape her, and Julie came to fear all boys and men.He fell ever deeper into paranoid delusions that his daughter was sexually active, prostituting herself, sneaking out at night to sleep with black men.When Julie was 14 her father attempted suicide and was placed in a locked psychiatric ward. Julie was made to testify against her father, and when he was released he became convinced she had turned on him. Julie became the target of his ever more paranoid delusions. Julie left home before 18 but her father's schizophrenic behaviour bled over into her own life: if she couldn't find the hairdryer, she would check for signs of entry. When it later turned up, she would wonder how the thief broke back in to return it. Confused, lost and damaged from years spent as the only confidante of her paranoid schizophrenic father, but determined to survive, Julie was finally able to come to terms with her father. She was her father's keeper, and always would be.

On the Run

By the son and daughter of Henry Hill - immortalised in the book "Wiseguy", and the Martin Scorsese film "Goodfellas" - "On The Run" is the harrowing account of a childhood spent coping with an explosive father, whilst dodging Mafia payback. Henry Hill's business partner, Jimmy Burke has whacked every person who could possibly implicate him in the infamous Lufthansa robbery at JFK airport. On his way to prison, lifelong ganster Henry is given two options: sleep with the fishes, or enter the FBI's Witness Protection Program. Gregg and Gina are dragged along for the ride. Like nomads, they're forced to wander from state to state, constantly inventing new names and finding new friends, only to abandon them at a moment's notice. Living under constant fear of being found and killed. But Henry, the rock Gregg and Gina so desperately need, is a heavy cocaine user and knows only the criminal life. He is soon up to his old tricks, and consistently putting their identities in jeopardy. And so, it continues until the kids, now almost grown, can no longer ignore that the Mob might be less of a threat to them than remaining under the roof of their increasingly unbalanced father.

This book really opened my eyes. Even though there are plenty of movies about the mafia world, there was still a part of that hoped it didn't exist. I cannot believe that there are people willing to treat young children to this.

Street Kid

ohn Peel first brought Judy's moving childhood story to light on "Home Truths". Abducted by her psychotic spiritualist father and kept like a dog in the backyard, she went on to suffer at the brutal hands of nuns in a Manchester orphanage, before living wild on the streets. This is an incredible, heart-wrenching story of a child who refused to give up. After a childhood lived in terror, in 1994, Judy was presented with an Unsung Heroes Award for her charity work with street children in South Africa. Her moving story came to light after Judy was interviewed by John Peel on BBC's "Home Truths". "Street Kid" is the inspirational and heartwrenching story of her early years. At age two, in postwar Manchester, Judy was snatched from her mother and sisters by her psychotic father - a spiritualist preacher. He kept her in his backyard, leaving her to scavenge from bins to beat off starvation. At four, she was sent to an inhumanely strict catholic orphanage, before being put back in her father's cruel care. For the next three years, she was treated as a virtual slave.After being taken by her father to South Africa, Judy ran away to join the circus where she found her first taste of freedom and friendship - before her father tracked her down. Weeks later, Judy was alone again and living on the streets, too terrified to turn to her circus friends. For 9 months, 12-year-old Judy made her home in a shed behind a bottle store before collapsing in a shop doorway from near-starvation. Finally, aged 17, Judy managed to pay her way back to England to find her mother and sisters. But, her return to Manchester cruelly shattered any dreams of a happy reunion. Determined that her childhood experiences should in some way give meaning to her life, Judy has worked tirelessly to help children in need back in South Africa in the very place she had been treated to such abuse herself. She has opened 7 centres to date.

From all the many books I have read on the subject of child abuse, neglect and rejection I feel this book really has no peers. It is truly an extraordinary story of a child from age 3 who learns to survive based on animal instincts - relying on inner resources to scavenge for scraps of food in the streets. Just when you think things are looking up for her, life transcends to yet new levels of despair and unimaginable hardship. Heart-rendering, harrowing and gripping all at the same time.

Richar McCann

Just a Boy
The Boy Grows up
Into The Light

Kevin Lewis

The Kid
Moving on

The Kid Moves On

When Kevin Lewis wrote The Kid, the bestselling story of his brutal childhood, he believed he could put it all behind him. But it wasn’t to be quite that straightforward… Vivid visions of the beatings and torture he endured from Gloria, his unstable mother, and Dennis, his alcoholic father, rose up and engulfed him, and he was forced to face his demons once more. But his own inner turmoil paled in insignificance when history started to repeat itself within the Lewes family. For in Moving On, Kevin describes his anger and disbelief at learning that five of his nieces and nephews have been taken into care. Then comes the horrifying news that Gloria has applied to have them live with her.

I very much 'enjoyed' (if that is an appropriate word to use)Kevin Lewis' first book. I thought I wonder what happened to him afterwords, so i bought this one.

The Kid

The true story of Kevin Lewis who grew up on a council estate in South London. Beaten and starved by his parents, ignored by the social services and bullied at school, he was offered a chance to escape this nightmare world and was put into care. Despite his best efforts to make things work out, his life spiralled out of control. At the age of 17 he became caught up in the criminal underworld of London, where he was known as "the kid". From the violent anger he suffered at the hands of his mother and father, to the continuous torments at school; from the way in which he coped with rejection from people he trusted, to suffering from bulimia and a wish to take his own life, Kevin succeeded in making a better life for himself.

I loved this book, from start to finish 'The Kid' had me engrossed in it's pages and I thought it was written brilliantly.

Into the Light

Richard McCann's account of his childhood became a massive UK bestseller. In it he told the harrowing story of how he and his sisters were left motherless when the Yorkshire Ripper killed his first victim, Richard's mother Wilma McCann. "Just A Boy" was praised for its unflinching and unself-pitying account of a neglected childhood at the hands of an abusive father and uncaring authorities. The only constants in his and his sister's lives were grief for their mother and newspaper coverage of her killer and the gruesome nature of his crimes. "Into the Light" is an account of how Richard used the success of "Just A Boy" to try and save his sister, to recover from the past and to learn more about the effects of traumatic childhood's and loss - in order to help others who are suffering. With his book in the bestseller charts Richard meets other children of Sutcliffe's victims. He is invited to meet survivors' groups and support groups of grieving families. "Into the Light" includes their stories of heartbreaking suffering and incredible strength. He decides to return to college so that he can go to university and train to become the social worker his family never had.He visits prisons and becomes a voluntary counsellor - in short Richard McCann comes to terms with the loss of his own childhood by talking to others, hearing their stories and learning about how to accept the past and move on. "Into the Light" is a tremendously gripping, moving and uplifting book. The story of a young man determined to do some good after suffering many terrible wrongs.

Sometimes a sequel to a brilliant book is disappointing. This is certainly not the case with "Into The Light". Richard McCann's first book "Just A Boy" was extremely powerful and moving; his sequel has the same attributes. "Just A Boy" gave the message that a person can survive abuse and make a success of their life. This sequel demonstrates clearly how McCann actually did this and continues to do so.