Runaway
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- Synopsis
- Beaten by her mother and whipped by her stepfather, Emily eventually finds her way into the care system at the age of twelve, and has an abortion after being gang-raped at thirteen. Continuously abused in a sequence of homes, she runs away at sixteen, becomes a prostitute in Soho, and convinces herself she is being punished for killing her baby. But it was never meant to be like that. Adopted at birth in 1956 by a middle-class family, Emily shares a golden childhood with her adopted sister, attends private schools, and shows a flair for singing and dancing. Things soon change when Emily's jealous mother comes to regard her as her rival. A bored and restless woman, she beats Emily for the first time at age seven and becomes addicted to inflicting pain. Despite Emily's father's attempts to protect her, the parental rows grow more malicious, until her mother finally moves out and, shockingly, wins custody of the children. She remarries a narcissistic widower with alcohol problems and a desire to relive the youth he lost suffering injuries in World War Two. The abuse from her sadistic mother and stepfather intensifies until, against her father's will, Emily's mother puts her into voluntary care. Here Emily enters the toxic spiral of remand homes, psychiatric hospitals, sleeping rough and further sadomasochistic abuse. Set principally between 1966 and 1972, I Just Want To Go Home captures the changing attitudes of the period, socially, morally, politically, but also in regard to the approach of adults and institutions towards the care of children.
- Copyright:
- 2013
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- Publisher Quality
- ISBN-13:
- 9781471115264
- Publisher:
- Simon & Schuster UK Ltd
- Date of Addition:
- 07/04/13
- Copyrighted By:
- Emily MacKenzie and Clifford Thurlow
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Has Image Descriptions:
- No
- Categories:
- Nonfiction, Biographies and Memoirs
- Submitted By:
- Bookshare Staff
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.