Book Beginning Two-fer: Secrets in Big Sky Country and Singing with the Sirens

THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

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YOUR BOOK BEGINNING



MY BOOK BEGINNING

I have two this week, because they share a theme:

Mill dust covers the worn leather boots at the base of the curtain that is my bedroom door. Lying in my metal-frame bed, I see the ghostly outline of my stepfather through its worn, flowered fabric.

-- Secrets in Big Sky Country: A Memoir by Mandy Smith

Mandy Smith's stepfather sexually molested her from the time she was three until she finally spoke out at age 14, only to be shunned by her family. Her courageous memoir exposes the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse and gives hope to survivors through her example of endurance and resilience.

Secrets in Big Sky Country is out this week. It is available on amazon or ask your local bookstore to order it!

We smiled as we heard the voice resonating from her cell: a soft, soulfull mourning filled with melody and pain.

-- Singing with the Sirens: Overcoming the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Sexual Exploitation by Ellyn Roberts Bell and Stacey Ault Bell, published by She Writes Press. The authors address the long term complex trauma that results from the sexual abuse and exploitation of girls and young women.

Both of these books are examples of the resources available to survivors of sexual trauma. Reading personal accounts, writing about their own experiences, and talking with other survivors can all be helpful means of healing.