Motherless: A True Story of Love and Survival

Motherless: A True Story of Love and Survival

by KarinaSchaapman (Author)

Synopsis

Karina and her mother live together in a small flat. Most weeks, their food money runs out and they are forced to go hungry for several days. The one thing they have is their love for each other. But tragedy strikes when Karina's mother develops crippling stomach pains, and she is sent away to the hospital. Thirteen-year-old Karina finds herself left home alone, raising herself for over a year. Finally, following her mother's death from cancer, she is sent to live with her father - an abusive man who walked out the day Karina was born and whom she has never met before. Unable to bear his abuse, she runs away. She flees to Amsterdam where she finds herself among the bars and brothels of the city. She takes up work in the notorious red light district - forced to sell her body in order to support herself. Motherless is her story. It is a tale of hardship and endurance, but, above all, of extraordinary strength and courage.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 256
Publisher: John Murray
Published: 06 Mar 2008

ISBN 10: 071956428X
ISBN 13: 9780719564284

Media Reviews
'A true story of love and survival, of poverty and abuse' -- Bookseller 'A work of shocking emotional power. Schaapman emerges both mutilated and heroic, as memorable as a broken child as she is in lightning-rod womanhood' -- Sunday Morning Post 'Explicit, shocking and makes uncomfortable reading, but ultimately it's the inspirational story of someone who dragged herself from the gutter of life and became a woman that her mother would have been proud of' -- Daily Record 'A work of shocking emotional power, from which Schaapman emerges mutilated and heroic, as memorable as a broken child as she is in womanhood' -- The Australian 'You marvel at this author's resilience' -- Aileen Easton, First Magazine 'A work of shocking emotional power' -- South China Morning Post From the Dutch reviews for Motherless: 'Anyone who closes this book unmoved should seek advice' -- Nederlands Dagblad 'A revealing and staggering book' -- De Morgen 'A gripping and heart-rending story' -- Zon Boeken 'A touching life story' -- NRC Handelsblad
Author Bio
Karina Schaapman is a Dutch Labour Party member of the council in Amsterdam. Married with three children, she lives in Amsterdam.