The man who should have been there to help protect me, love me, and teach me about life did the opposite. I was told to keep quiet and not tell anyone our secret. A secret that filled me with fear and shame. I was sexually abused from ages five to twelve.

Left as a newborn in a box outside Stoke City Football ground, her grandparents took her into their home. But instead of finding a sanctuary, Nicky was subjected to horrific sexual abuse throughout her childhood. In 1951, when Nicky was six years old, her glamorous-looking estranged mother arrived on the doorstep to 'rescue' her. But Nicky's hopes of a safe and loving family were very soon smashed, and her world became darker still.

Frances Reilly and her sisters were abandoned by their mother outside Nazareth House Convent - a Belfast orphanage run by nuns. Little did they know the unimaginable cruelty they'd endure within its walls.

9-year-old Nichole and her parents are evicted from their home because both of her parents are addicted to heroin. With nowhere left to turn, they are now homeless. In order to survive they must dig through dumpsters, beg, and steal. While living on the streets, Nichole struggles to understand why people treat them differently.

More than 2,000,000 children worldwide are bought and sold each year to be used as slaves. This could be just one of their stories.... When his parents agree to send Tavi off to a special school in the city that promises wealth and success, they have no idea that they are handing their son over to real life human traffickers. Tavi's excitement soon turns into horror as he learns what kind of a life he has been forced into and the things that are expected of him. As his world comes crashing down around him, he struggles to stay true to himself in the midst of the darkness. But when one of ...

In the best-selling tradition of Smashed and The Glass Castle, this raw, eye-opening memoir tells the powerful story of Elizabeth Garrison's fractured childhood, descent into teenage drug addiction, and struggle to overcome nearly insurmountable odds. Elizabeth invites the listener behind the closed doors of a picture-perfect Christian family to reveal a dark, hidden world of child abuse, domestic violence, and chilling family secrets all performed in the name of God under the tyrannical rule of her father.

"This novel is not for the faint of heart, but it rewards the brave with a riveting tale that grips deeply." DJ Moore A dark, psychological thriller that is sure to keep you up well past your bedtime After enduring a lifetime of abuse at the hands of the man that vowed to cherish her, Genny Carter knows only the role of the victim. More focused on avoiding punishment than the wellbeing of her three daughters, she ignored the terror inflicted on them by their father during their childhood. She kept his secrets. Now, in her sixties, Genny has had enough. She needs her daughters to help her ...

Sexual trauma can dim or even extinguish the spark of our personalities—but deep within us, our souls remain as bright and beautiful as the day God gave them to us. Little Sweetheart, the true account of a twelve-year-old girl trapped in a sexual relationship with an older dance teacher, is much more than a memoir. With vulnerability and honesty, Amber Gregory integrates both spiritual inspiration and careful research with her autobiographical story. As she shares her healing journey—a journey she took with her Divine Soul Mate at her side—she empowers us to learn along with her. She ...

I was born to an abusive doctor named Ahaz in Kentucky, homeschooled and not even allowed to have friends. When I was nine, Ahaz discovered The Church of God in Christ, Mennonite (Holdeman) in Tennessee, and he forced us to move there. The Holdeman's were religious exempt from education beyond the eighth grade, and I was beat for begging to go to a high school. As a minor, I had to kiss approximately 200 different people on the lips, some of whom were complete strangers, for the sake of something called The Holy Kiss; only it didn't feel holy. Ahaz determined to break my independent, ...

Tressa Middleton made UK history when she became Britain's youngest mum in 2006 aged just 12 years and eight months. Her case provoked shock and outrage - but the truth behind the headlines was far sadder than anyone could ever have imagined. Born into a life of poverty and neglect, Tressa was forced to grow up fast when was she taken into care at just four years old. She was returned to her mother's chaotic world, but by the age of seven, she was being abused by her own brother and at 11 years old she fell pregnant with his child. For years she kept his dark secret in an attempt to hold her family together until the truth threatened to destroy her completely.

Raining Pitchforks is dedicated To All Children Who Go To Bed Tonight Afraid. This is a book about my experience growing up in an erratic, dangerous and unstable world. It begins when I was seven and ends at age 17; a time frame that encompasses a 10 year span of events with a disastrous ending. Along the way I encounter several important relatives and friends who help and hurt. This remarkable, fast moving story is about courage, optimism and loss. Our American family was changed for generations by World War II. What is now called PTSD took a toll on all of us. It is a true story but some ...

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.

Every one of us fears the things that go bump in the night. We’re told tales of happenings when evil is conjured or footsteps are heard while alone in a dark house. But those are just stories, right? What would we do if those fears became an intense reality we could not escape? On the night of November 17, 2018, Danielle Leukam went to bed as a newly single mother and nurse from Minnesota. On the morning of November 18, 2018, she awoke to a sinister world that would never be the same for her again. A home invasion gone awry, Danielle was held at gunpoint and raped repeatedly for five ...

Emily Edwards is locked in the basement. Her husband put her there. When she accused him of molesting their seven-year-old daughter, he finally snapped. But Emily isn’t alone in the basement. Her new home is infested with spirits of the dead. And some of them would die again to save her.

In 1991, eleven-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard was kidnapped on her morning walk to the school bus. But despite her family's tireless efforts, Jaycee's disappearance remained a mystery. Then, in August 2009, a registered sex offender named Phillip Garrido appeared on the University of California, Berkeley, campus alongside two young women whose unusual behavior sparked concern among campus officials and law enforcement. That visit would pave the way for a shocking discovery: That Garrido was Jaycee Lee Dugard's kidnapper.