Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #127548 in Books
• Published on: 2005-11-07
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

Synopsis
From the author of the Sunday Times bestseller One Child, comes a startling and poignant memoir of three people's victimisation and abuse - and their heartbreaking but ultimately successful steps to recovery, with the help of Torey Hayden, an educational psychologist. In Twilight Children, Hayden tells three gripping stories. At the centre of the book is the story of Cassandra, a nine-year old girl who was kidnapped and abused by her father for two years and, by the time Hayden starts working with her, is ready to lash out at anyone who tries to befriend her. Running parallel to Cassandra's story is that of four-year-old Drake who won't speak to anyone except his mother. The third narrative is about Gerda, an elderly women who, after suffering a stroke, refuses to free herself from her self-imposed silence and crippling depression. Told with compassion, sensitivity, and, believe it or not, humour, Twilight Children is the story of one woman's fierce determination, the struggles of three people, and their amazing road to recovery. Torey Hayden is an educationalist whose work centres around elective mutes and especially children who won't speak due to a trauma in their lives.

Customer Reviews

Highly recomended
I`ve read many of Torey Haydens books. I wish there were more people in the world like her.
In this book, she describes working with three very different people. Two are children, and for the first time, she works with an elderly stroke victim in a geriatric ward.
Torey Hayden accurately describes how much she cares for each of these three indivduals, and her frustration at the beurocracy which threatens to (and does, at times) hamper the treatment of these equally important, individuals.

Poignant and touching true story
Don't be put off by the cheesy subtitles which always seem to accompany Hayden's books - she writes modestly and from the heart, sharing both the faults and the triumphs in her teaching. Best of all, she can write well: the tales of these three patients are neatly woven together and complement each other well. The ups and downs of her relationships with her patients are touching to read, and it is heartbreaking to see what some of them have been through. She captures beautifully the tone and expressions of the children - anyone who has spent time with young kids will respect the ease with which she brings them to life on the page.

interesting
this story is so captivating. shows you how one persons presistence can pay off, torey is such a remarkable person and her dedication to these "lost souls" so to speak is to be comended.

can put it down although sometimes you wish you could but then remember the children in this story can escape from whatever horrible things happened to them.