A Very Private School Audiobook By Charles Spencer cover art

A Very Private School

A Memoir

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A Very Private School

By: Charles Spencer
Narrated by: Charles Spencer
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About this listen

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

“A tour de force.” —The Washington Post

In this poignant memoir, Charles Spencer recounts the trauma of being sent away from home at age eight to attend boarding school.

A Very Private School offers a clear-eyed, first-hand account of a culture of cruelty at the school Charles Spencer attended in his youth and provides important insights into an antiquated boarding system. Drawing on the memories of many of his schoolboy contemporaries, as well as his own letters and diaries from the time, he reflects on the hopelessness and abandonment he felt at aged eight, viscerally describing the intense pain of homesickness and the appalling inescapability of it all. Exploring the long-lasting impact of his experiences, Spencer presents a candid reckoning with his past and a reclamation of his childhood.

©2024 Charles Spencer (P)2024 Simon & Schuster Audio
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Beautifully Written Memoir • Brave Honest Account • Excellent Narration • Compelling Storytelling • Gripping Voice
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The nativity of these young boys were so easy to be taken advantage of. They emerged so different in ways the family could not imagine. The secretiveness of the school and the full reign parent gave to those unworthy guardians. At first I didn’t think I could bear the incidents but Lord Spencer has given an adult perspective back to his readers that helped me understand how they remained secretive and the ways to overcome. Although the content is hard to get through- it was a subject well addressed and the strength it took to overcome the feelings that remained.

Straight forward rational analysis of a systematic crime situation in an English boarding school

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This has helped me broaden my perspective about British boarding schools and have more compassion for those who have suffered.

Brave, compelling, compassionate

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my ❤️ went out to charles....I wish he had told someone even Diana.... Those poor children

wonderful but sad

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Author did such a great job describing his feelings, the physical setting of boarding school, and each one of the characters that were a part of that time in his life. These stories can never be told to often, people need to understand trauma and abuse. Thank you Sir for sharing your story.

Excellent!

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Great narration! I want to say “great story” but that feels like a trivialization. This is a powerful recounting of a time and place hopefully arrested.
I fear events similar still continue all over this world. There is much to think about here.

Out of the past comes the future

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The story is a sad one. These boys didn’t stand a chance. I wish Charles could’ve talked with one of the headmasters later in life to ask a simple question…why?

Unbelievable cruelty!

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Charles Spencer wrote a beautiful memoir about a dark period in his childhood at boarding school. Well-written and compelling, I finished it within days, unable to stop listening. His narration was excellent, and I would recommend it!

Vulnerable and well-written.

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Spencer iss a survivor of childhood sexual, physical and emotional abuse. You could be surprised by how much you have in common with him.

Stunning

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Enjoyed the reading by the author. The story of his young life was interesting and tragic.

The cruelty faced in the private school

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I will never send any of my children to a boarding school after listening to this audible. Superb variator.

Excellent

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