Childhood Interrupted
Growing up in an industrial school
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4.4 • 11 Ratings
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- £2.99
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
In 1950, Kathleen O'Malley and her two sisters were legally abducted from their mother and placed in an industrial school ran by the Sisters of Mercy order of nuns, who also ran the notorious Magdalene Homes. The rape of eight-year-old Kathleen by a neighbour had triggered their removal - the Irish authorities ruling that her mother must have been negligent. They were only allowed a strictly supervised visit once a year, until they were permitted to leave the harsh and cruel regime of the institution at the age of sixteen. But Kate survived her traumatic childhood and escaped her past by leaving for England and then Australia when the British government offered a scheme to encourage settlement there. Fleeing her past again, Kate worked as a governess in Paris and then returned to England where she trained as a beautician at Elizabeth Arden. She married and had a son. A turning point in Kate's life came when she applied to become a magistrate and realised that she had to confront her hidden personal history and make it public. This is her inspiring story.
Customer Reviews
Brilliant!
I've never been a fan of books. No matter what people do, I have huge difficulty picking up a book and reading it through to the last page. My dad leant me a paperback version of this book a while ago and I just leafed through it, just casually.
But it was only until I had more time to reflect on others that I immediately turned back to Childhood Interrupted. So as soon as I had some credits in my iTunes account, the first thing I downloaded onto my iPad was this book and I've just finished the last page. While this book is rather alarming and at time, one winces at some of the behaviours, it really is gripping and eye opening because not only was it biographical, it painted the Sisters as Mercy order as bluntly and as straightforward as possible without sugar coating anything.
It is sad though that as a result of their incarnation, they were never really able to rebuild that relationship they had all those years ago and unfortunately time was very short for them. It just made me think about other issues. You might be distant from family but you don't know when it'll be too late to act.
I loved this book. If there is only one book you can afford on the bookstore, get Childhood Interrupted. period.