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Arlyne Lucille: From Hellish Depths to Heavenly Heights
Arlyne Lucille: From Hellish Depths to Heavenly Heights is A.L. Warner's true life story. Born into abusiveness, abandoned on the streets of Buffalo at age 13, suffered suicide attempts, soured relationships, health problems; and, finally, she underwent a spiritual, life-changing experience.
Preview Website - 4-Apr-2005 - Hits: 52 - Rate This | Details

Call Me Crazy ^{Top Rated}
Everyone knows Anne Heche most famously from her role as half of the Ellen DeGeneres/Anne Heche gay couple. Yes, she's starred in a few movies, some of which have done well, others not so much, from her background as a soap opera star. So it was a bit disappointing to pick up this book and read it from cover to cover only to discover so little written about the years she was with Ellen DeGeneres. Only after page 211 (of a 248 page book) do we get about a dozen pages of her life with Ellen, and that only as a fleeting, passive description.

Okay, I understand. This is a book about a woman (who just happens to be famous) who has dealt with years of abuse as a child and many more years as a young adult desperately trying to come to terms with that abuse and her own sense of self. So if you pick up this book to want to read more about "Ellen-n-Anne" (as she refers to that time in her life), don't; no beans are spilled and little insight is given as to how Anne so easily fell into a lesbian relationship as readily as she fell into a traditional marriage shortly after their breakup.

What the reader does find is over 200 pages of Anne's personal life, laid bare for all to digest. Included in this journey is her childhood, her time as a soap star, and all the relationships inbetween. It isn't so much a coherent telling of someone's life story... Rather it is more of a personal account of someone's life, told in the way people tell the story of their life. Details are important, feelings are emphasized, and a cogent connection from point A to point B are often glossed over. And that's okay, because this wasn't written in conjunction with some ghost writer -- these are Heche's own words. Raw, emotional, and focusing on what was (or is) important to her.

This book seems as much to act as form of therapy for Heche (who spent much time in therapy as an adult) as it a telling of her life story. In the forward, she tells the reader that she hopes by sharing her story with us, others will not have to live through the living hell of child abuse with as much difficulty as she did. It is a noble reason to write such a book, and I hope that readers who have gone through childhood abuse take some strength from her story. That it is possible to survive the abuse, to make it through life, and come out the other side whole, stronger, intact, and full of life and love.

At times, admittedly corny and heart-felt, the book is a genuine unique work of art. I think Heche sums it up best when she writes, "I hope that people get the courage to talk about their abuse before they find themselves wandering through dark caves of insanity and into the homes of strangers seeking God."
Preview Website - 5-Apr-2003 - Hits: 389 - Rate This | Details

ChildHood - It Should Not Hurt!
Covers the disturbing issues of incest and child sexual abuse, the greatest hidden epidemic in America. Readers get information about recognizing the signs and symptoms and what to do if they learn their child has been sexually abused. The quagmire of the judicial system is outlined in simple and thorough detail and includes solid systematic advice. ChildHood - It Should Not Hurt offers valuable advice and insight to adult survivors of sexual abuse that will help them reclaim their lives, and it serves as a thorough resource for parents, legal, law enforcement, medical, social work, psychological professionals, and all adults who are concerned about the health and safety of our children.
Preview Website - 2-Jan-2005 - Hits: 102 - Rate This | Details

Domestic Abuse: Our Stories
"I found that this book helped me a lot and gave me the courage to leave my abuser of twelve years. Please add it to your list so that maybe it can help someone else." Paperback, 119 pages.
Preview Website - 25-Oct-2004 - Hits: 63 - Rate This | Details

Healing from Family Rifts ^{Top Rated}
Information about HEALING FROM FAMILY RIFTS, how to recover from a family that cuts you off or how to live with a dysfunctional abusive family. Practical tools for recovery and healing within yourself.
Preview Website - 2-Apr-2004 - Hits: 461 - Rate This | Details

The Journey Home: A Story of Healing from Childhood Sexual Abuse ^{Top Rated}
A victim of incest until the age of 15, Pat Swinger describes her healing journey, how she has overcome the pain of her abuse and learned to live in joy.
Preview Website - 8-Apr-2003 - Hits: 148 - Rate This | Details

The Longest Road: Finding Peace With the Past ^{Top Rated}
This true story is a powerfully and evocatively written dark and suspenseful psychological drama. It is about a young woman, who after a troubled childhood, finds herself pregnant and alone. She devotes her life to caring for and raising her child. As her son grows, he becomes more and more abusive towards her and their conflicts escalate. Desperate to resolve their explosive relationship, she searches out his birth father, believing that that will heal her son's pain. In a shocking twist of events, both father and son turn against her and she is forced into psychiatric care. Torn between her love for her son and her own survival, she must find the courage to leave her son's life in order to save her own.
Preview Website - 4-Jul-2005 - Hits: 48 - Rate This | Details