Free Downloads Punished: A Mother's Cruelty. A Daughter's Survival. A Secret That Couldn't Be Told.
‘Punished’ is the inspiring true story of an unusual little girl, Vanessa, whose childhood was devastated by torture and abuse at the hands of her sadistic mother. Vanessa was nearly destroyed until she discovered a secret that ultimately saved her life.From the age of 3, Vanessa lived in daily terror of her mother's unpredictable rage. If she was 'naughty', her mother would lash out at her – with beatings, torture, starvation and making Vanessa sleep in their garden's pigsty, tied up like an animal. Her mother said her punishments were God's revenge on her for being the devil's child. Her father lived in denial of her suffering.When she was 6 years old, Vanessa's grandfather began to sexually abuse her – to her despair, aided and abetted by both her mother and grandmother. At eight years old, she then discovered that the 'mother' who hated her so much had adopted her as a baby and would never love her as her own.At the most horrific times of Vanessa's abuse, she nearly lost all hope that she would escape her prison, until mysterious things started to happen to her that allowed her to fight back.This is the story of how Vanessa survived a childhood that nearly destroyed her and how her secret led her out of the horrors of her past.
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Harper Element (April 2, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0007256817
ISBN-13: 978-0007256815
Product Dimensions: 5 x 1 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (262 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #25,494 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #13 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Sociology > Abuse #21 in Books > Parenting & Relationships > Family Relationships > Dysfunctional Families #31 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Children's Studies
Anyone who doesn't realize that child abuse can be horrific, needs to read this book. It is shocking the depths some families sink to, and memoirs like this show why neighbors, schools and doctors need to report suspected cases and laws need to be enforced. But in spite of all that happened to her, she was able to take in the love that her paternal grandparents had for her and not become an abuser when she became a parent. I suspect she was correct in her theory of why her mother hated her.The kindle verion of this book was very well written, the grammar was correct and few or no typos.
This is one book I read through in a single day. It was terribly sad, but also terribly all too real. There are people in the world like Vanessa's evil step mother, and their victims all too often cover up the horror and dread they face each day, fearing an even greater punishment if they tell anyone. And worse, when they do break their silence, they are not believed by the very people who should protect them. I'm glad Vanessa found happiness at last, although she did take care of her insane step mother til the end and even facing death, this crazy evil woman would not give Vanessa the answers she sought. This book is a testament to the will of the human spirit to survive.I had to wonder, however, if the memories of foretelling the future weren't Vanessa's rewriting of her memory (not intentionally) and the zoning out in a daze sounded like disassociation to me - a precursor sometimes to multiple personalities. The visions and imaginary companions were a little schizophrenic. Not denying that premonitions and communication with spirits do exist, however, the human mind will conjure up whatever it has to to survive. It would be understandable, under the circumstances, if this is how she dealt with things, to keep her sanity (sort of).None of that matters, however, as this book is a great look inside the more dysfunctional of families (although I'd faint if I met a *functional* family.) I'm a RN who works with families in crisis when all the secrets and skeletons fall out of the closet and you have to wonder if these people are putting you on. Sadly they are not. This sort of thing does exist and happens more often than you'd think.
I've read this book 2x now, and I still think it is an amazing memoir. I guess I have a strong stomach because it wasn't a difficult read for me. It was actually difficult for me to put the book down! I'm very happy that Steel was able to FINALLY have the life she deserves after everything she has been through, but I still can't understand how she can just move on with her life and still talk to those who abused her and let her down. I realize that in the time period this was set it, things like that would be shameful to talk about, but still...I have a difficult time accepting it.I read almost all of the terrible reviews and saw that most people seem to think something is wrong with her mentioning her psychic abilities...I'm not sure why though. One person even said she would never have bought the book if she had known. As a young child she was badly abused mentally and physically, so how is it surprising she speaks of instances where she has an out-of-body experience? I know I have had moments like that when I have fallen off of a horse or had something frightening happen, so it is perfectly plausible that she experienced the same thing, but more intense. I don't think there is anything wrong with her mentioning any of this, I feel it only adds to the story of her horror, making it seem as if her mother literally drove her insane (although, I don't think that was the case). I really enjoyed this book a great deal, but it bothers me that NO ONE really tried to help her get away even though they knew something was going on...perhaps if it were a different time, her childhood could have been salvaged.I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone!
A mother is a beacon and protector. She is the one that will always stand up for you, sacrifice herself for you, and give you everything that she is able to give you. Not so in "Punished: A mothers's cruelty". Imagine pasting the face of a devil on the body of an angel. This is how this book feels: All wrong. You feel it in your guts, in your bones, in your soul. I could hardly finish it, and I don't really know what made me, but I can truly say that it left me devastated and broken-hearted. For real.
This was a good book, but I'm not sure I believe the story. It's been a while since I read it, so I can't say what made me not believe it. I do know that there seemed to be an awful lot of torture going on that could not have gone unnoticed, even if the abuser is a very good liar. I'm not saying the author is making it up, because I know from experience things can happen and no one notices or cares. I'm thinking maybe the author should be looking into a lawsuit for people not getting her out of the situation. Someone had to know what was happening to some extent and they should have done something. If I remember correctly the father in this story knew what was happening and chose to ignore it yet the daughter forgave him as though it was just a one time thing. I'm sorry but, something doesn't seem right about that. To me he was as bad as the mother if not worse. I'm not an expert on child abuse though so forgive me if I'm being rude. I do remember what it was that made me not believe it now. It was when the mother puts her in a bucket of ice cold water and then makes her sleep outside in below freezing weather. The child would have froze to death. At the very least would have suffered from hypothermia and frost bite. It was a good book though, it kept me reading.
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