A Harrowing Account of Lost Childhood (Don't Ever Tell - Kathy O'Beirne)

Name: jupiter28

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Product:	Don't Ever Tell - Kathy O'Beirne
Date:	04/07/08 (161 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Engrossing

Disadvantages: Controversy about the truth

I picked this book up in Duty Free when I was enroute to Belize. I was initially drawn to it firstly because it was a Sunday Times bestseller and secondly because of the innocently looking picture of a little girl on the front cover. However, as most pictures tell a 1000 words, once you realise what the book is about, you understand the poignancy of the picture on the front cover.

The book is autobiographical and written by Kathy O'Beirne and tells her story of a ruined childhood, how she tried to come to terms with it and seek justice for the crimes committed on her.

From the moment you start reading the first page, you are immediately drawn into a harrowing event that took place in the authors life. The author covers inexplicable child abuse within her family, incarceration at the infamous Magdelene Laundries to teenage pregnancy and electric shock therapy on her in a psychiatric unit.

I am not an avid reader, though I do enjoy the reviews posted by others on here. However, this is one book I just couldn't put down. As I read through each chapter I was gripped but not in a good way. Each event that Kathy talks about and describes made me feel disgusted and I kept asking myself how could this happen and how could it be allowed to happen to someone so innocent. But as Kathy reasons with us, it did and it is unlikely to ever be explained. Something that Kathy herself has had to come to terms with.

I feel that Kathy's description of the events meant you could build up a vivid picture in your mind and actually feel like you are Kathy. It is scary how with this book the reader can be drawn into the authors world. A credit to the author but not something to be praised for, she is merely telling her story.

I do not wish to delve into the specifics of these accounts, I would really urge you to read the book yourself. There have since been reports where Kathy's siblings have said part of the book is made up which Kathy vehemently denies. To be honest I believe a lot of the graphic detail could only have come from first-hand experience. In addition Kathy is not the only person to have gone through this, about 150,000 children are thought to have been imprisoned by the Magdalene Laundries and mis-treated in this way. However whether you believe it or not it is still worth a read.

According to the book, today Kathy is quite frail though only about 30-40 years old, a person who has withdrawn into herself with a completely nervous disposition. She is currently campaigning for justice against her treatment in the laundries, though there are no records of anyone kept within the institution so no proof, just accounts.

True or false, the book is nothing short of thought-provoking. Not least because of the disbelief that this could and did happen and it made me seek out a movie titled The Magdelene Sisters which centres on 3 girls. However in my opinion it does not touch upon these extreme events as in the book told by Kathy. The treatment bestowed upon the girls kept within this institution (for want of a better word) has been described as dehumanizing abuse. The case continues.

Pages: 224
ISBN: 1845961463
Author: Kathy O'Beirne
RRP: £6.99
Published: 18 May 2006

This review may be posted on other sites by me.

© jupiter28 2008

Summary: Could this really happen?