Not a Proper Child

Nicky is a remarkable soul. Her story is one of the darkest – yet one of the most hopeful you will ever read. 


It begins in 1965 with the arrival of Moors Murderer, Myra Hindley, to Risley remand centre. Nicky is tasked with preparing her cell and this brief interaction hints at the darkness into which a human life can descend, and Nicky’s own resolve, whatever she has faced, to make a different choice. 


Left as a newborn in a box outside Stoke City Football ground, her grandparents took her into their home. But instead of finding a sanctuary, Nicky was subjected to horrific sexual abuse through her childhood. In 1951, when Nicky was six years old, her glamorous-looking estranged mother arrived on the doorstep to ‘rescue’ her and take her to London to live with her new family. 


But Nicky’s hopes of a safe and loving life were very soon smashed, and her world became darker still...


Nicky spent years as a homeless alcoholic, living on the street, in and out of prison before eventually finding a new way forward through her love of art.


Now an internationally renowned London artist, hers is a compelling story, carried along by her rare spirit of survival against the odds. This book tells the details of an extraordinary woman’s rise from the horror of a deeply damaging childhood to a new, creative and independent life. Her story is one of hope, for herself and for other abused children.