Never a Hero to Me
Tracy Black was only five years old when her mother was hospitalised for the first of many occasions, leaving Tracy in the care of her father. His behaviour, seemingly overnight, changed from indifferent to violently abusive and, for the next seven years, Tracy was sexually and physically abused by her father, his friends and her own brother. All of the men were in the British Armed Forces.
Tracy's father compounded the abuse by sending her to baby-sit for his paedophile friends - whilst their own children slept in other rooms, these men would find excuses to leave later or return earlier than their wives in order to abuse her, with her own father's blessing. When she sought help and safety the doors were closed as the authorities closed ranks.
In this shocking and compelling book, Tracy Black pieces together the jigsaw of a story that has haunted her for the past forty years. She reveals the horrific betrayal of trust perpetrated by men who were considered upstanding citizens and heroes.
Tracy's tale reminds us all of the terrible ways in which paedophiles work and the secrets too many children are forced to carry alone. It is only now that she can tell her full story of recovery.
5 Star Reviews ★★★★★
This is a moving real story that is well written. You wanted to reach into the book and rescue the child from her dreadful father, rather unpleasant mother and not very nice brother. What made it worse was when the father betrayed his daughter to his friends. For anyone needing to understand about child abuse, this is the book to read, as it shows that outsiders just had no idea of what was going on. It shows us the importance that children should be listened to and believed, which was not the case with the social worker. But this is also the story of an abused child who turned into a strong young woman, who learned to stand up for herself and from what the book says is now a happy mother and grandmother. I am glad it had a happy ending.
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This book was written with great courage and could not have been an easy tale to tell, but perhaps cathartic for the author. How a father could be so evil and totally controlling was bad enough to read, but the shocking way that her mothers attitude towards her compounded the situation, then her brothers learnt behaviour kicked in, followed by her fathers pimping of her to his revolting friends and as if this poor child hadn't suffered enough, the absolutely disgraceful & badly trained social services! It made me realise, don't judge a naughty child too quickly as attention seeking bad behaviour can just be a cry for help. It is a tale that you will never forget.
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Not for the faint of heart, the story is honestly heart breaking. I defy anyone with a heart not to feel something when reading these pages. The writing doesn't dress things up. It tells the story as it needs to be told which is impressive in itself. A subject like this doesn't need flowery prose. The power lies in the honesty of the words. I couldn't put it down.