LoveReading Says
LoveReading Says
The Letter, Sarah Sidebottom’s moving account of the horrific sexual abuse inflicted on her by her father and brother, opens the moment said letter arrives. A decades-old document from a doctor that changed everything. In Sarah’s words, having “grown-up on the wrong side of a wall of silence”, this letter “was an atom bomb. But it was also the key to a justice I had dreamed of for almost 50 years”.
Sarah then moves to recount, in unflinchingly raw fashion, how her father began abusing her when she was just three, leaving her in need of surgery. In the outside world, her father was well-liked: “He was popular and chatty and always happy to put himself out for people”. Behind closed doors, he was violent towards his wife, and sexually abused his daughter, threatening to kill her mother if Sarah ever revealed their “secret”.
Through her childhood and teenage years, while still being abused by her father — and her brother, too — Sarah summoned the strength to fight back and take a stand: “This was the uprising. This was me, letting them know I was wrestling back some control over my life. I was not beaten yet”.
In time, Sarah found love and a happy marriage, and now runs a charity with her husband that’s seen her invited to Buckingham Palace. She also found justice, thanks to the doctor’s letter that provided vital prosecuting evidence in a case that saw her father and brother jailed in 2022. Though incredibly harrowing, Sarah’s story is also one of hope and healing.
Joanne Owen
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The Letter Synopsis
The harrowing emotional story of horrific sexual abuse at the hands of a father and brother and the forgotten letter which made justice possible
Co-written by Ann Cusack, the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Asylum, The Convent, Silent Sisters and Abandoned
"I heard his breath at my doorway. That was all it took."
Sarah Sidebottom was repeatedly raped by both her father and her brother as a child has secured justice thanks to a forgotten letter.
Sarah Sidebottom, 54, was raped and sexually abused by her father, Arthur William Bowditch, and her brother, Arthur Stephen Bowditch. They were jailed in 2022 for a total of 32 years.
The first attack, when she was just three and a half years old, left Sarah needing surgery to repair internal damage. A decades-old letter from her doctor proved crucial in securing a conviction for the abuse, which began almost 50 years go.
Sarah, 54, now happily married and a mum of two, runs a charity for ex-army veterans with her husband, Darren, himself a former soldier, in Barnsley, South Yorks. She’s even been a guest at Buckingham palace in her charity role – a far cry from the suffering of her early years. Sarah also shares a special bond with her dog, Kayla, a German Shepherd, who saved her life when she has felt unable to carry on.
She says: “I had no idea about the surgery until 2021, and I saw my medical records. I was horrified, but at the same time, this was exactly what the prosecution needed to build a case against my father. After staying silent for nearly 50 years, part of my healing process is having a voice and speaking out.”
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About Ann Cusack, Sarah Sidebottom
Sarah Sidebottom is a 54-year-old mother of two grown-up daughters. She lives in Barnsley, South Yorks, with her husband, Darren and her beloved dog, Kayla. She works in hospitality and is also involved in Barnsley-based ‘Help 4 Homeless Veterans’ where Darren is a trustee.
Bestselling author and journalist, Ann Cusack has ghost-written nine memoirs, all of which have been original material self-sourced and developed. Ann has previously written several bestsellers for Mirror Books including Groomed by a Gang and Abandoned.
Living and working in Manchester, where she was born, she has a long track record of following stories and working with ordinary people who have found themselves thrust into the spotlight by extraordinary events.
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