
Dear Sister
A Memoir of Secrets, Survival, and Unbreakable Bonds
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Narrated by:
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Michelle Horton
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By:
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Michelle Horton
About this listen
In this "incendiary" memoir, a woman fights the criminal justice system to release her incarcerated sister after she kills her longtime abuser (Publishers Weekly).
In September 2017, a knock on the door upends Michelle Horton’s life: she learns that her sister has just shot her partner and is now in jail. Stunned, Michelle rearranges her life to raise Nikki's two young children alongside her own son.
During the investigation that follows, Michelle is shocked to learn that Nikki had been hiding horrific abuse for years. Michelle launches a fight to bring Nikki home, squaring off against a criminal justice system designed to punish the entire family.
Since Dear Sister’s original publication, Michelle’s fight—alongside a tireless network of supporters—has resulted in Nikki’s release from prison.
With a new chapter, an update from Nikki, and never-before-seen photographs documenting the homecoming, this edition provides a touching new conclusion to a profound, intimate story of resilience and the unbreakable bond of family.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2024 Michelle Horton (P)2024 Grand Central PublishingListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"A devastating and heart-breaking account which sheds light on all of the secrets, the silences, the unnecessary opprobrium, and the injustice that still surround battered women in our society today."—Sheila Kohler, author of Once We Were Sisters
“This deeply felt and beautifully written book—this tale of tragedy and love, cruelty and community—will stay with me long after Nikki comes home and these two amazing sisters and their children can heal. It will stay with me, inspire me, and fuel my commitment to women, because as little Ben says at the end of the book, “It’s not over until we help all the other mommies who defended themselves get free.”"—Elizabeth Lesser, Cofounder of Omega Institute and author of New York Times bestseller, Broken Open
"The sheer scale of what Michelle Horton has done—in this book, in her life, in telling her sister’s story and her own, in her very survival—will leave you awestruck. I didn’t read this book, I swallowed it. It will make you feel despair, rage, horror, and ultimately reverence and adoration. Hopefully, it will make you stand up and take notice of all we get wrong with survivors like Nikki Addimando. I don’t think anyone will read this book and not want to take to the streets and demand we do better. I know I’ll be out there. In a word, this book is miraculous.”—Rachel Louise Snyder, author of No Visible Bruises and Women We Buried, Women We Burned
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- The Shocking True Story of Surviving and Evil Nun's Care Home from Hell
- By: Marie Hargreaves
- Narrated by: Dorothy Lawrence
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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When a fancy car pulls up outside six-year-old Marie's home in 1959, her dad tells her she is going on holiday. But little does she know she will not see her home again for four long years. Her family cannot afford to keep her at home. Marie tells the story of how she was taken away from a poor but happy and loving home life to live in a convent - away from everyone and everything she holds dear. Her hair is bluntly chopped, her clothes are taken away and her name is changed. Then a horrific ritual of physical, sexual and mental abuse begins.
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Stunning Book
- By madameEmily on 10-09-21
By: Marie Hargreaves
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Stella's Story
- Thrown Away Children, Book 1
- By: Louise Allen
- Narrated by: Melanie Crawley
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
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Named after the lager that christened her at birth, Stella's life is characterised instability and neglect. Her teenage mother abandons her in the first few weeks of her life, and left in the 'care' of her father, she ends up lying deserted in a house with no food, no water, no clothes and no warmth. She eventually lands in the care of foster carer Louise, who is determined to change her life for the better.
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Heartbreaking and wonderful!
- By Deb S. on 10-28-24
By: Louise Allen
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Everything Is Fine
- A Memoir
- By: Vince Granata
- Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Vince Granata remembers standing in front of his suburban home in Connecticut the day his mother and father returned from the hospital with his three new siblings in tow. He had just finished scrawling their names in orange chalk on the driveway: Christopher, Timothy, and Elizabeth. Twenty-three years later, Vince was a thousand miles away when he received the news that would change his life - his younger brother, Tim, propelled by unchecked schizophrenia, had killed their mother in their childhood home.
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Brutal and Beautiful
- By 3dogknits on 07-14-21
By: Vince Granata
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Silent Sisters
- A True Story
- By: Joanne Lee, Ann Cusack, Joe Cusack
- Narrated by: Melanie Crawley
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Growing up, Joanne suffered at the hands of a violent boyfriend and controlling relatives, as her mother lapsed into a downward spiral following the break-up of her marriage. But the consequences of her mother's lifestyle turned out to be worse than Joanne could ever have imagined. She already knew about the baby buried in a shallow makeshift grave next to the family plot. But when Joanne came across a red plastic bin in her mother's wardrobe in 2009, she realised that the family home held an even more sinister secret.
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save your money
- By Amazon Customer on 03-31-20
By: Joanne Lee, and others
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Dirty Little Dog
- A Horrifying True Story of Child Abuse, and the Little Girl Who Couldn't Tell a Soul (Skylark Child Abuse True Stories, Volume 1)
- By: Kate Skylark, Sophie Jenkins
- Narrated by: Jill Myers
- Length: 2 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Sophie Jenkins is living a happy life in the idyllic Dorset countryside when she meets Martin Brett, the man who will go on to abuse her and haunt her dreams for years to come. A momentary act of neglect leads to a horrible series of events that leaves her changed forever. Badly let down by the adults entrusted to care for her, Sophie’s life begins to spiral downward. However, Sophie’s message is ultimately one of hope and empowerment. She is in the process of rebuilding her life when fate leads her to encounter her childhood attacker once again.
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Narrator choice ruined it for me.
- By P. Stein on 09-10-20
By: Kate Skylark, and others
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Breaking Free
- How I Escaped Polygamy, the FLDS Cult, and My Father, Warren Jeffs
- By: Rachel Jeffs
- Narrated by: Rachel Jeffs
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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In this searing memoir of survival in the spirit of Stolen Innocence, the daughter of Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed Prophet of the FLDS Church, takes you deep inside the secretive polygamist Mormon fundamentalist cult run by her family and how she escaped it. Born into the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Rachel Jeffs was raised in a strict patriarchal culture defined by subordinate sister wives and men they must obey.
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Heart breaking addition to the FLDS cult story
- By Abby Martin on 12-10-17
By: Rachel Jeffs
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Where Was God?
- By: Jennifer Dawn Turpin
- Narrated by: Tonia Rich
- Length: 3 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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As far as Jennifer can remember, her father was abusive but her mother wasn’t always. She remembers a time when she felt loved by her mother. All that changed when Jennifer was 11. Her mother snapped and became a monster like her father was. Then they turned on her. Jennifer fought to become who she wanted to be, and not who her parents were trying to make her be. She refused to allow the torture change her, like it changed her mother. This is the story of Jennifer’s past, how she got through it, and how she survived it all.
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my best friend jennifer turpin
- By J.R. Taylor on 08-10-24
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I Have to Call Someone Mama
- A Grandmother's Story of Two Siblings Rescued from Munchausen by Proxy Abuse
- By: Tammy Eady Walker
- Narrated by: Liz May Brice
- Length: 3 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy is one of the cruelest forms of child abuse imaginable. It is very difficult to prove and even harder to prosecute. This story chronicles a woman's journey as she discovers that her two grandchildren are victims of this abuse that most people have never even heard of. Her faith in God kept her going as she turned their tragedies and trials into triumph. Follow her journey of faith as she fights to rescue, protect, and bring healing to her grandchildren's broken spirits and shattered little souls.
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A Mother’s Heart
- By Dennise Acosta on 11-28-22
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The Bad Room
- Held Captive and Abused by My Evil Carer. A True Story of Survival.
- By: Jade Kelly
- Narrated by: Caro Clarke
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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When Jade Kelly met her new foster mother, she thought her prayers had been answered. Kindly Carol Docherty was everything her violent, drug-addicted mother was not. Loving and nurturing, she fed and clothed 10-year-old Jade and offered a life free of fear from near constant abuse. Or so Jade thought. As soon as social workers in Lancashire stopped their regular checks on Jade’s progress, Carol turned. Over the next six years Jade and three other girls were effectively kept prisoner in a bedroom she called the ‘bad room’ and subjected to unrelenting physical and mental abuse.
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The Bad Room, great story line and reading.
- By Gwen's Collection on 04-05-25
By: Jade Kelly
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Nowhere to Hide
- By: Hannah Morgan
- Narrated by: Una Byrne
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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A shocking true story that reveals how one woman was tormented to the very depths of despair by her husband through coercive control and continual physical and sexual abuse. Broken in mind, body and spirit and completely isolated from the rest of the world, Hannah thinks she’ll never find the strength to escape, until one day an opportunity arrives....
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AS THE ADULT DAUGHTER OF AN ABUSED MOTHER
- By Kathy Weber on 04-23-21
By: Hannah Morgan
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My Mother, Munchausen's and Me
- A True Story of Betrayal and a Shocking Family Secret
- By: Helen Naylor
- Narrated by: Helen Naylor
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Ten years ago, Helen Naylor discovered her mother, Elinor, had been faking debilitating illnesses for 30 years. After Elinor’s self-induced death, Helen found her diaries, which Elinor wrote daily for more than 50 years. The diaries reveal not only the inner workings of Elinor’s twisted mind and self-delusion, but also shocking revelations about Helen’s childhood. Everything Helen knew about herself and her upbringing was founded on a lie.
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Excellent book!
- By Robin Loves Reading on 12-02-21
By: Helen Naylor
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Girl Unbroken
- A Sister's Harrowing Story of Survival from the Streets of Long Island to the Farms of Idaho
- By: Regina Calcaterra, Rosie Maloney
- Narrated by: Rosie Maloney, Regina Calcaterra
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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They are five kids with five different fathers and an alcoholic mother who leaves them to fend for themselves for weeks at a time. Yet through it all, they have each other. Rosie, the youngest, is fawned over and shielded by her older sister, Regina. Their mother, Cookie, blows in and out of their lives "like a hurricane, blind and uncaring to everything in her path". But when Regina emancipates herself as a minor and escapes, her siblings are separated.
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Needed a different person reading aloud
- By Mindy on 02-09-18
By: Regina Calcaterra, and others
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Necessary Trouble
- Growing Up at Midcentury
- By: Drew Gilpin Faust
- Narrated by: Drew Gilpin Faust
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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To grow up in the 1950s was to enter a world of polarized national alliances, nuclear threat, and destabilized social hierarchies. To be a privileged white girl in conservative, segregated Virginia was to be expected to adopt a willful blindness to the inequities of race and the constraints of gender. For young Drew Gilpin Faust, the acceptance of both female subordination and racial privilege proved intolerable and galvanizing. Urged to become “well adjusted" and to fill the role of a poised young lady that her upbringing imposed, she found resistance was the necessary price of survival.
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My Life written by Her.
- By Jacqueline L Larner on 09-03-23
This book was very well written and the audible version was beautifully read. 
A Must Read
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true story
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Wonderful writing, heartbreaking, anger provoking
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Strong bonds/ strong sisters
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A must read so as women, we know there is no way we must continue to stay quiet.
Unbelievable resilience!!
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Best audible listen to date
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Absolutely beautiful
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I highly reccomend this book. the writer is honest, insightful and A SUPERHERO
Couldn't Put it Down - All on a Sunday
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Best book I’ve listened to yet!
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Very real
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