Fantastic Author
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My 1st Lesley Pearse book was A Lesser Evil which was brilliant, so I tried another one, Never Look Back, again brilliant. I am a book addict and decided to buy a pile of her books from Amazon - Trust Me is the 6th book that i have read in the last couple of weeks and this book is fantastic. She is a superb Author - stories very true to life and details of feelings are covered perfectly. I have experience with the adoption system and find that her writing of children in care and their feelings of rejection and heartache is exact. The feelings portrayed are not exaggerated or played down but true life - her story lines make the books an excellent read but at the same time teaching you something about the care system.
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A Harrowing Story with an Important Historical Context
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This wonderfully-researched story follows the lives of two sisters, Dulcie and May. The story begins in 1947, when the two girls are still children. Their mother is more interested in buying clothes and having an affair than looking after her two children, but their Father is a fair, kind and decent man.
This all changes following one partiuclarly vicious argument between husband and wife. In one particularly spiteful outburst, the girl's Mother reveals to their Father that the youngest child, May, is actually the illigitimate child of an American soldier. Furious, the Father slaps his wife, and in the scuffle, his wife falls down a set of stairs. Sadly, the girls, who are in their bed at the time, hear the entire argument, and also hear their Mother falling down the stairs.
What follows is not surprising. After a brief stay with their extremely infirm Grandmother, the girls are then sent to an ophanage, left under the supervision of nuns, named 'The Sisters Of Mercy'. Their father is sent to prison for twelve years.
This begins a horrifying sequence of events. The ironically-named 'Sister of Mercy' actually have very little mercy, or compassion. Dulcie and May are subjected to sadistic mental and physical abuse.
They believe that all of this is set to change when they are selected to be sent to another Orphanage in Australia. The girls envision sandy beaches and a better way of life. Sadly, their situation goes from bad to worse. The abuse they suffer in Australia is actually worse; not only physical and mental, but sexual too, as May is subjected to the cretinous lechery of a perverted nun. All of this is based in fact.
The girls are separated, as Dulcie is sent to work at a farm for a pittance, slaving away for people who show her little kindness. Eventually, however, she is sent to another farm to work amongst decent people who care about her. She forms a relationship with a young man named Ross, but the curse of the orphanages strikes again as it transpires that Ross was also terribly abused in one of the 'Christian Brothers' orphanages...
May's life spirals out of control, and her descent into various forms of rebellious and damaging behaviour is heart-rending to read about, as is an attack on her innocence, when all she really wants is to be loved. The appalling damage inflicted on young children by these nuns and priests actually defies belief, and the deceit and subterfuge used to cover them up angered me greatly as I was reading this story.
Sadly, there are no happy endings all round. For every strong and resourceful person like Dulcie, who successfully manages to shake off the cruelty of the past, there are others who fall by the way.
This horrifying and moving book is based on some of the worst cruelties than the Catholic church has inflicted on innocent children. It must be read to be believed, and Lesley Pearse's attention to detail and research is stunning.
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Honestly, could not wait for spare time to keep reading.
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I was given this book by a friend who had read it and loved it. I was slightly put off by the cover (I know - shallow)but I normally go for chick-lit. I started reading and was not convinced it was going to be a story I liked however I persevered and was not disappointed. With the detail Lesley Pearse uses you really feel that you know the characters personally. I could not wait each day for the school pick up where I would snatch ten minutes reading time waiting for the bell to go and then grabbing half an hour before bed-time too. I loved this book and am definitely going to add some Lesley Pearse titles to my Christmas list.
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Heart Rending
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A fabulously touching story of cruelty, brutality and love. This is a really fulfilling book which, if it hasn't already been done, should be made into a film or television drama. The story has a true beginning, middle and end in that it starts when the two main characters (sisters) are small children giving a good background to the family, continues throughout their pitiful lives and carries on through to the end of the sisters' lives. There is not one page or even sentence which doesn't hold your attention and makes you want to carry on reading. The fact that the story content is based on truth makes it quite shocking. This book is not just `women's fiction' it is an enlightening story for all to contemplate. Lesley Pearse has obviously researched this very well and she must have had moments when she sobbed her heart out in the preparation and writing of this novel - well done, Lesley.
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A well and truly excellent read...
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This is the third Lesley Pearse book I have read and it was just as good as the other two, and it certainly won't be the last. Lesley is such a brilliant author in that you get really involved in the story and you really feel that you know the characters. This is a book I won't forget in a hurry, it is such a harrowing tale about two sisters who are treated so badly in the orphanages that they are sent to and the research Lesley has done to write this book is brilliant. Well done Lesley.
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