LoveReading Says
LoveReading Says
“Nuns being abusive? How could they? They were servants of God. They were revered and feared in equal measure by the community. But behind the doors of the church they were simply just feared by the children they ruled over”. So author Suzanne Walsh shares in the opening pages of Vow of Silence, breaking her silence in the hope “it will help other victims come to terms with what happened”. This also sets the style and tone for the rest of this affecting memoir, beginning with the first terror Walsh and her siblings experienced when they were left with nuns as a result of their daddy dying and Mammy having to leave Ireland to find work in London.
What follows is a harrowing, unflinching account of daily beatings, neglect and starvation to the point that “we were in our own hell every single day with no one to tell or turn to.” Though their mother returned after four years, the abuse the siblings’ experienced remained a secret - “We never told anyone what happened - certainly not our mother - after we were constantly threatened by the nuns. It was a secret we kept as children and had kept with us for more than 50 years – until the Ryan Commission was introduced by the Irish Government in 1999”. Through the author’s story we are afforded insights into the post-WWII poverty that forced working class families to entrust their children to orphanages, making it both a powerful personal memoir and a poignant record of horrific chapters in British social history.
Joanne Owen
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Vow of Silence Synopsis
Suzanne suffered five heart attacks and made it through open heart surgery. But even that pales in comparison to the horrors she faced as a young girl.
Her childhood became the 'stuff of nightmares' after her father passed away and her mother, unable to get a job in Ireland, had to seek work in London. So 'Mammy' was forced into the heartbreaking decision to put Suzanne and her five siblings into church-run orphanages in Dublin while she worked away. It was just meant to be temporary.
Her life soon became a daily struggle to avoid beatings with canes and rosary beads. Suzanne and the other children worked from dawn until midnight, living on disgusting scraps of food, while the nuns dined on fresh fruit, meat and cakes that the 'orphans' had cooked for them. Suzanne tried her best to shield her younger sisters from the terror of these hateful 'women of God'. But it was only the beginning of their troubles...
Eventually, their mother returned from London, after four years, with enough money to take her children out and the family was reunited. However, too scared to speak out, the children vowed to take the horrors they had experienced at the orphanages to their graves.
What really happened behind those church doors? This is Suzanne's heartbreaking and touching story.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781914451034 |
| Publication date: |
16th September 2021 |
| Author: |
Suzanne Walsh |
| Publisher: |
Mardle Books an imprint of Ad Lib Publishers Ltd |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
319 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Biographies & Autobiographies
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| Other Genres: |
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Press Reviews
Suzanne Walsh Press Reviews
'A deeply powerful and harrowing memoir that will remain with you long after the final page.' - John Marrs, author of The One
'This heart wrenching story kept me riveted from start to finish.' - Kristin Chenoweth, Actress
'A riveting story told through the eyes of an innocent young girl who was still dealing with the repercussions of her grief and anger 50 years later. Suzanne's bravery in speaking out against the evil she faced, is so powerful it will help many other victims.' - Molly Shannon, Actress
'Suzanne Walsh's Vow of Silence is a beautifully written memoir of her and her siblings childhood experiences. From their early start as a loving family unit, through the heartache of grief, and trauma from abuse by those trusted to care for them. Suzanne's story is one of courage, strength resilience and love. Honest, compelling, heartbreaking and inspiring, her words stay with you.' - Joanne Froggatt, Actress.
