Stolen Childhood Laila Bevan

"Stolen Childhood". This title encapsulates the very essence of the book. It is an autobiography of Laila's life in which she describe how she survived her childhood against all the odds. Being left almost freezing to death as a baby, survived drowning as a toddler, being rescued from falling into 30ft concrete silage, being almost shot with a rifle, a suicide attempt at the age of 8, ready to kill at the age of 12 and raped at the age of 15. This story took place amongst the majestic mountains and fjords of the western part of Norway. Growing up in a home having two alcoholic parents created an atmosphere of personal neglect and violence. Despite the fact of having three older sisters and one older brother, Laila was the target of verbal and physical abuse from her dad. Her three oldest sisters and her brother were accepted and allowed to be part of the family. She was the only one that was the "Bastard", "The whore child" as her dad called her. In this book Laila describe how she felt while she was growing up having no sense of belonging and no sense of identity and receiving no love at all and never feeling safe. One of the factors that made her life dramatic was not just that she was the only child her dad chose to reject, using physical and verbal abuse not only in the daytime but also at night. Laila also describe how her older brother Ted made her life a living hell. She also talks about her great dilemma concerning her mum. Her mother just allowed Laila's brother to beat her up daily without any interference. One section deals with the continual nightmares Laila had caused by guilt and fear from the circumstances surrounding her mother's death. When Laila finally left home at the age of 16, her childhood had shaped Laila into a person filled with hatred, bitterness, and great anger. It was not until she was 27 years old something happened to her that would change her life forever.