by Frances Reilly (Author)
Clutching her eight-week-old sister in her arms, Frances Reilly was abandoned by her mother outside the gates of The Poor Sisters of Nazareth Convent. It was 1956 and Frances was 2 years old. Little did the toddler know, as her mother's car disappeared into the cold Christmas morning, that this was to be the beginning of a terrible new life. For the next 13 years Frances experienced institutionalised cruelty. Beaten, raped and molested, Frances suffered horrifically under the care of her new guardians. The nuns stripped her of everything - her best friend, her innocence, even her name - but they could not suppress her spirit and her never-ending hope of a better life. Written with great honesty and integrity, this moving account of childhood suffering is a tragic yet inspiring story. Through it all - the physical, sexual and emotional abuse - Frances refused to be broken. Her resolution to survive the tortures of her every-day life, and defy the evil that stole her childhood, makes her emotive memoir an inspiration to all and an uplifting read.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 272
Edition: Export Ed
Publisher: Orion (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )
Published: 10 Jan 2007
ISBN 10: 0752875337
ISBN 13: 9780752875330
Book Overview: Recent non-fiction bestseller lists have been dominated by misery memoirs Frances Reilly writes lucidly about her abuse in the affecting style of THE LITTLE PRISONER and with the brutal honesty of JUST A BOY Frances is the first of the Convent's victims to launch a civil suit against the Poor Sisters of Nazareth, validating her claims and widening interest in the book Frances's watershed lawsuit will generate pre-publication/publication interest Frances taught herself to read and write after leaving the Convent so this book is a triumph of will and determination