Posted here with permission from the readers. Thank you!
Sharon Hawley, Oakville ON
With compelling honesty and bravery, Sheila reveals the trauma and abuse she suffered as a child and adolescent. Despite her tragic circumstances, her survivor’s spirit shines through as she takes the reader through her discovery and recovery process. In this well-written memoir Sheila has crafted a book you will not be able to put down and it will stay with you long after you finish reading it. Highly recommended.
You take readers into your own childhood mind while never letting us lose sight of your adult authorial guidance. You enable us to grasp how your first stepfather’s behaviour was inconceivable to those around him, and how valuable professional help can be for adults still smarting from the trauma of childhood abuse. One of your book’s important lessons: it demonstrates how blaming the victim is what often comes most naturally. We all need to be alert to the many forms of abuse, the many forms of mental illness, and their many consequences.