When I was very young, an uncle of mine died. At his funeral, I roamed his home where viewings were held, crying... I cried because I was glad he was dead...
I know that he had touched me, abused me in some way, but I couldn't remember anything more than I was afraid of him and glad he was gone...
That time was not the last relative to touch me inappropriately throughout my childhood, especially when I grew older...
I started reading this story with my own background but also have read many stories written by others who were abused as children.
This book didn't follow most of those stories much, which are normally in the self-help genre... This story is fiction...
Nani's Tale
By Corey Fair
I don't know whether this book is based upon a true story--it is listed on Amazon as fiction. And I believe it is fiction...
Why did that bother me? Well, because child abuse is so prevalent in today's world, that it didn't seem right to me to write fiction about that reality, even if it is intended to help... Mainly it bothered me that there was one scene, which I found to be incongruous...a young boy supposedly goes into a bedroom where Nani is sleeping with her mother, climbs up far enough to place his mouth where it shouldn't be...and then he is discovered, chased out of the room, runs into the streets and is killed. Once that event happened, the stepfather becomes even more abusive because he has lost his son...
Sure it makes for great drama and added greatly to the story. But I just couldn't believe it could happen. The value of the story for me was greatly diminished.
The story is written in first person which implies the girl is telling her own story. She specifically goes into details about what happened when she was just two and then three...I remembered my childhood experience--or rather that I couldn't remember the details of my own experience, and thought, again, this was not true, but had been written to suggest what a two-year-old might have said or thought.
The beautiful little girl on the front cover certainly is someone who we would all want to be happy and cherished with love. We would all want to have that child taken in by a teacher, pastor and their son, who immediately becomes a big brother and protects her. What I did believe was everything related to the child's introduction to church and Jesus. It rang true and was well presented.
It is my impression that the author acted in good faith to write a story that could be inspirational. And many will find this story to be. I believe, however, she needs to read some real-life stories and work to make her work more in line with what could actually happen. Once one issue is questioned, it limits the value of the book...
What started me thinking about this? It was the preview of her next book, Bully Me Badd which was again written in first person...with a different child, different mother, etc. One thing that could salvage this problem could be by writing in third person and placing some of the thoughts for the child in italics in a "voice" appropriate for the age of the child... But no matter what, abuse is almost always done in secret and scenes cannot be created which probably just wouldn't happen--no matter how much drama it might add to the story line.
I applaud the writer for wanting to "educate on a mental and spiritual level." More reading and research in the field would start the writer moving in this direction on a more solid basis. Her writing is good and could continue on for some great inspirational books. I hope my personal opinion may help her move forward. In the meantime, please consider that this book is fiction as you consider it further. It does have much to offer...just not enough for me to recommend.
GABixlerReviews
No comments:
Post a Comment