True cruelty
While searching Goodreads for a book I’ve read and wanted to read: Silent Tears
I bumped into another book with a similar title, Cry Silent Tears. Just from the blurb and the reviews, my body melted, every nerve fighting the urge to go hysteric from anger. Being a mother, I can’t understand how a mother can be this cruel and those who let it happen.
Joe knew his mother was cruel and violent, but he trusted his beloved father to protect him from her. When a freak accident saw his father burn to death in front of him, Joe was left at the mercy of his mother. Without the love of his friend and brother, he wouldn’t have survived. With them, he went on to spend his life fighting child abuse.
Joe was just five years old and the horrific scene literally struck him dumb. He didn’t speak for four and a half years, which meant he was unable to ask anyone for help as his life turned into a living hell. His schizophrenic mother and two of his older brothers spent the following years beating him, raping him and locking him in the cellar at the family home.
Fed on scraps that he was forced to lick from the floor, he was sometimes left naked in the dark for three days without human contact. Unable to read or write, all Joe could do to communicate his suffering was draw pictures. The violence and sexual abuse grew in severity as more people, including his stepfather, were invited to use him in any way they chose.
The only thing that saved Joe was the kindness of his elder brother and his only school friend, both of whom showed him that love was possible even in the darkest of situations. At fourteen he finally found the courage to run away, hiding in a hut by a railway line, fed on scraps by some local children who found him.
Joe’s is the ultimate insider’s story, casting light into the darkest of hidden worlds, and a truly inspirational account of how one small boy found the strength to overcome almost impossible odds and become a remarkable man. Now that he has found his voice again, Joe speaks out against child abuse and helps support and protect other children whose lives have been blighted by it.
Few Goodreads reviews:
… His story is one that’s hard to endure through page after page of torture, beatings, rape, even mental and physical abuse at the hands of his mother, brothers and anyone who came into his life once his father who thought the world of his son died in a tragical accident. Knowing this is happening and it’s out there as foretold in Joe’s story will have wanting to hold onto him for dear life and wishing that everything could have better for him and had been there for him where all others had failed him and were not…
– Betryal
This book is extremely grotesque and sickening. I wanted to stop reading it but felt I owed it to the author to finish it. What he experienced was beyond imaginable…
It was a hard read, and I wouldn’t suggest reading it unless you have the stomach. I went into it not know the severity of his situation. Then I read some reviews on the book, and I was horrified as to how some people said that it wasn’t completely true, and that it was unbelievable. Those people are disgusting….
My reply to the last reviewer: My childhood isn’t as horrible as this book, but people still barely believe me (when I tell my terrible childhood.) I can see it in their eyes and the way they act. Sadly there are people who refuse to look truth in the face.
Jessica / Jessie
Jessica / Jessie Winterspring is a time travel romance fanatic who loves writing fiction about ordinary people with extraordinary experiences. She blogs music inspired stories, poems, micro-fictions, moments in life. She enjoy spending time outdoors, adore animals and traveling with her family. She like anything unusual and fun. CLICK HERE to read more about her or CLICK HERE to view her books
21 Comments
popsiclesociety
I’m not a mother but I don’t think we need to be in order to understand child abuse…😣 That so called “parents” that do it cannot even be called humans…😖
Jessica E. Larsen
True. You don’t have to be a mother to feel this treatment horrible. You only have to be a human to know what a monstrous family was born into 🥺. My chest hurts.
popsiclesociety
Not even animals behave like this 😣😣
Jessica E. Larsen
True. I think 99% of the animals will die protecting their youngs not abusing it 🥺
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Nour R.
Okay sorry for commenting twice but I just read that it’s the author’s story. That courage and strength…I don’t know what to say
Jessica E. Larsen
That’s so true. Going through that pain from a stranger is horrible, but for it to be caused by the people who’s supposed to love and care for you is agony beyond words… And he live through it and even strives to help other victims now. He’s an inspiration.
Nour R.
The description brought tears to my eyes and made my heart ache. I don’t think I’ve the courage to read it. Is this based on the author’s story?
*sigh* the world is a terrible place at times
Jessica E. Larsen
Me either. I can’t imagine what kind of depression or emotional trauma I’ll go through is I read this book 😔
Jim Borden
sounds like a tough story to read; I’m glad Joe found the strength to become a remarkable man…
Jessica E. Larsen
He truly is remarkable. A true inspiration at that.
Vic Crain
In reading the comments about Ghislane Maxwell, there is an apparent stereotype that says that women cannot be abusers, that mothers cannot be pedophiles or abusers. Unfortunately, it happens apparently a lot more than society wants to admit. Women actively instigate and/or participate in evil. The copout that they are merely passive observers is just that. It’s only when we can talk about evil out in the open that we can ever hope to deal with it.
Jessica E. Larsen
Stereotypes are crap no matter what direction. Same as in the past, a man shouldn’t cry. To hell with it. Everyone has feelings, why is it that us women can bawl to our hearts content yet men can’t even show a tear.
I heard lot of stories of women physically and mentally abusing kids. My brother and I were a victim of such abuse.
One man in my husband’s country (Norway) revealed in one documentary that his babysitter back when he was a kid sexually assaulted him all the time, but he never told anyone about it and suffered alone, because he thought no one will believe him or that it was shameful for him to speak up.
Society isn’t making it easy for kids to confess, it’s no wonder why there’s so much criminality in the world, because there’s so many tormented souls.
Vic Crain
Hi Jessica, I couldn’t agree with you more. I don’t recall if you’re connected with my wife, Lyn, on here. She has her own stores to tell. Her anger drives some of her best writing.
Jessica E. Larsen
Lyn sounds interesting 😍 please reply me her link so that I can visit her blog 😊
Vic Crain
LynCrain.com
Dracul Van Helsing
This would be a sad and very difficult book to read. 🙁
Jessica E. Larsen
It is. I’m already backing off from the blurb alone. I think my mental and physical health will suffer if I went ahead and read this.
Simon
So cruel 😳 it’s very hard to accept such people exist in this universe 🙄 Sad… Thanks for the review Jessica ✨ I won’t read such kind of books, but your post itself to tell me what kind of book it is. and I’m not reading this for sure. but I love the content, not reading it for my own mental health 😇 🤗 Have a wonderful weekend 😁 U still awake 🙄😳
Jessica E. Larsen
Yes I was still awake! But half of my spirit was in bed 😂
Me too Simon, I didn’t read this book. Although, I plan to buy this and the book 2. I’ll probably read the book 2 because I want a detail account of how he deals with life afterwards. Although, I won’t be a simple thing 😔
Simon
Yes indeed, not so simple to read such stories 😊