Product Description

The shocking story of a young girl forced into prostitution by her own father, and her painful journey to escape her horrific childhood and build a new life for herself and her sons. Maria's dad was a pimp, living in a world of thieves and street-walkers. Her mother, tiring of turning tricks for her husband, walked out, leaving the children in his chaotic, violent and sometimes cruel care. By the age of nine, Maria's father was abusing her and getting a prostitute friend to dress her up in stockings and make-up. By the time she was fourteen he was selling her on the streets of the red light district in Norwich. Despite everything Maria still loved her swaggering and sometimes charming father and found it hard to sort out her own feelings. At fifteen she ran away to King's Cross with an older lover who turned out to be just another pimp. Furious at losing a nice little earner her father involved the police and both he and the other man were jailed for living off Maria's immoral earnings. Only then could Maria escape her traumatic childhood and follow her dream of becoming a mother.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11396 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-16
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 294 pages

Review
'[a] heartbreaking true story' South Wales Argus

About the Author
Maria Landon was a teenage prostitute with a drink and drugs habit when she became pregnant with her first child. The arrival of the baby changed everything and, having been through counselling to help deal with her past, she then began to teach personal development. Her aim is to help people who have been taught as children to think that they are worthless, a technique her father used to keep her in his power. She is now the mother of two sons aged 19 and 22.

Customer Reviews

Worth reading
This truely is a horrific story it is well worth reading if only to highlight what adults should be looking for in children who they believe to be at risk. Maria paints a picture of a terribly shy child to the point of mute when adults were involved but no one bothered to question her alone or try to break down her defences to find out why she was so quiet and withdrawn.
Stories like this are becoming more and more common, i am not saying that what happened to Ria was normal but the walls of silence are breaking away so the predators cant get away with it anymore. The one thing that does puzzle is me is there is no mention of her brothers at the end it would have been nice to know they had turned their lives around to.

A sad story but compelling read
This was a really sad story, made even more so by the fact that Maria (the author) and I are the same age. As I read the book I compared my life to what was happening to her and this was really, really sad. The author explained herself and reasoning so well and I could understand just how her life was the way it was. However, Maria triumphed and overcame the years of abuse turning into a respectable woman and mother. I enjoyed this story and found it to be a really good read.

Good Read
A sad story, which you will not be able to put down. However the ending was open and it would appear likely that there will be a second book! Hate it when they do that!